Parched Kerala!

The summer is only just peaking – and Kerala is already in the grips of another potential drought. A land visited every year, without fail, by the precious rain bearing monsoon winds, a land blessed with hill ranges to obstruct these winds and produce copious rainfall, a land with 44 rivers and additional backwaters is yet again becoming parched and dry. As usual, about twice the average national rainfall has reached the sea, without being utilized in any manner whatsoever.

But do we really care? Are our polticians and bureaucrats concerned at all? The rainfall we continue to receive annually is more than enough to meet our needs, if utilized properly.We have our Irrigation Department , we have our Water Authority, we have our CWRDM, swarming with Engineers, Technologists and Scientists of all sizes and grades. Yes, we do organize seminars and talk at length about the need for harvesting rain, controlling pollution and so on and so forth. But talking will not provide results.The fact remains that after allowing a major portion of this God send rainfall, criminally unutilized, to reach the sea, we choose to worry about the water we should have got from a Mullaperiyar or a Cauvery. Perhaps, it is far better that these waters are indeed claimed by our neighbouring states - they will definitely be utilized to the last drop there.

All our rivers that once bore crystal clear water are now polluted beyond imagination.Organic wastes are shamelessly discharged into rivers. Most of our sewerages lead to rivers.Our rivers are still (barely) alive only because of the monsoon rains. It is estimated that one litre of the waste water in our drainages need 50 litres of clean water to be diluted to reasonable proportions. If we consider the quantity of polluted water, not subject to any purification whatsoever, discharged into our rivers, we can rest assured that not nearly enough water is available in our rivers in the summer to dilute these. Consequently, our rivers have lost their
capability to preserve life. The pollution of surface water ultimately leads to contamination of the sub surface water as well.

Why does the Malayali, who clamours for airports in every city not insist on drainage systems with waste processing plants, at least in the major cities? Why is everyone ignoring the fact that Kochi city, for example, is steadily becoming the equivalent of one huge septic tank? If this state of affairs continues scarcity of potable water will become a statewide phenomena in the very near future.

Even those areas in Kerala, experiencing severe water shortage now, actually receive an average yearly rainfall of 200 cm. This reveals our shortfalls in water management. Spoilt by the monsoon rains, we begin to think (again!) about water shortage only by January-February. By this time, however, a major share of the rainwater would have reached the sea. And then, we await the tanker lorries bearing water for our daily requirements. This ridiculous state of affairs has been continuing for about four decades now.

Measures have to be taken on a war footing to combat this situation. It is time we stopped laying the blame on the peculiar nature of the monsoon rains or our topography and seriously thought of a permanent solution to the droughts.Wide spread deforestation, sand mining, indiscriminate filling of wetlands and violent alterations in topography in the name of development have all led to a perceptible lowering of sub surface wate . The quantity of water available for the soil to absorb is very little now, resulting in the drying up of our wells and ponds, and decreasing the quantity of water and its flow in our rivers.

It is not enough to harvest rain water just to obtain drinking water. Rainwater harvesting is essential to raise the sub surface water level and to combat water pollution. The need of the hour is a multi faceted programme combining the maintenance of the wetlands, protection of our traditional water sources and scientific waste disposal. ‘Water availability’ consists of two components; i) the actual availability of water and ii) its quality. For ensuring availability, rain water has to be harvested and protected. To ensure quality, pollution has to be avoided at any cost.

Before starting any enterprise, the entreprueners (including the govt) must be ready to exploit to the full the locally available water sources. The Film Video Park at Kazhakootam (Thiruvanathapuram), Rubber park at Airapuram (Kochi), Ahalya foundation (Health Care city) at Kozhippara (Palghat), all fuction utilizing their very own water source. Among the projects currently underway, The Kinfra Industrial Park at Kakanad (Kochi, daily consumption – 5 lacs litres), Food Processing Park at Adoor (Kochi,10 lacs litres), Textile Park at Kanjikode ( Palakad,20 lacs litres) all ensure availability of water by tapping local water sources using modern technology. Such imaginative steps have ensured that these projects will not suffer from water shortage as long as the monsoon rains don’t stop.

Kerala’s water crisis can be solved to a large extent by scientific utilization of the monsoon rains and control of water pollution on a war footing. But it has to start now-we may have already left it too late!

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