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Minister urges domestic users to conserve water

PUDUCHERRY: Minister for Industries and Agriculture V. Vaithilingam has urged domestic users to conserve water.

Speaking at a function at French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP) here on Friday, he said the Union Territory was one of the highest water users in the domestic sector with the government supplying 120 litres of water per person a day. Water users should make it a point not to waste water and reduce consumption as much as possible.

Cuddalore Collector Rajendra Ratnoo, who received the first copy of the DVD, said water was a very precious commodity. He urged the scientific community and the public to work together to conserve it.

Director of the French Institute of Puducherry Jean Pierre Muller said with the demand for water on the increase and resource being a limited one, conflicts in sharing and degradation of water availability, more stress was building on water. This question was relevant not only for India but also the International research community. Joelle Rayet, French Consul General in Chennai and Puducherry, was also present.

The 53-minute trilingual DVD has been produced by the IFP and made by Nathaneal Coste and Nicolas Ploumpidis. It provides testimonies of a broad range of stakeholders from rural India on the perception of lack of water, thereby showing how the dynamics of water management have evolved and how access to water has brought prosperity but also led to bitter experience.

An international workshop on ‘Water: spatial dynamics, competitive claims and Governance’ was organised by the IFP, Pondicherry University, Madras Institute of Development Studies (MIDS) was also held at the Pondicherry University on Friday and Saturday.

Olivia Aubriot of the IFP, presented a paper on mapping the diversity of irrigation types and uses.

S. Janakarajan of the MIDS, presented a paper on how water supply to cities affected peri-urban areas and villages. Prakash Nelliyat, Research Coordinator, Centre for Water Resources, Anna University, spoke about the challenges from Tiruppur.

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