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The elixir of life
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More and more people are advocating the rain water harvesting technique. But very few actually implement it, as a study revealed.
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For a city that is on the coast, Chennai faces severe water shortage, thanks to the failing monsoons. Most cities have fallen victim to this crisis due to concretisation. As there is not much porous area for the water to seep underground and feed the well springs, wells and lakes have dried up.
A study conducted recently by second year students of B.Sc, Mathematics, MOP Vaishnav College for Women, revealed that in most areas in the city, residents depend heavily on the Metro and bottled water.
The scarcity of water was at its peak in June when the Metro water supply through pipes dwindled. This lead to an increased demand for packaged water, with more than 40 per cent residents in areas such as Mylapore, K.K. Nagar and Ambattur depending on it.
Of course, it was not too easy on the purses of the middle-income group.
Also, there are only some areas where the ground water is potable like in Perambur and Purusawalkam. Most areas are left with saline water.
Rain water harvesting (RWH) has proven to be quite a successful method of saving water. In fact, the survey does reveal that the public feel the need for RWH in residential and industrial areas to make maximum use of rain water.
Desalination of the sea water, co-operation from the MMDA (enforce a law wherein builders must leave unconcretised area around the flats) and educating the public on maintaining lawns or kitchen gardens are some of the other ways suggested.
But the study revealed that only 20 per cent of Chennaiites resorted to the RWH techniques. And of course, it was more prevalent in independent homes rather than in flats. So where does that leave us?
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