4 months ago
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For Chennai, agelong accustomed to counting h2o proviso by the hr and anxious implicit summertime scarcity, h2o accent is simply a taxable of some interest and acheronian humour. The city’s experimentation with a 24-hour uninterrupted and equitable piped h2o proviso — aided by a ringing main organisation system, a looped pipeline web linking each sources — signals a determination distant from intermittent organisation and short-term h2o management.
Chennai is sustained by its h2o sumps. This perpetuates the story that piped proviso is continuous, erstwhile successful world it is not. Even the cardinal areas get lone intermittent supply, which makes the Adyar zone proceedings a cardinal experimentation that whitethorn alteration the city’s h2o organisation strategy. Continuous piped proviso successful this portion is acceptable to beryllium initiated astatine a clip of comfortableness successful the city’s regular h2o organisation this year. Chennai’s large reservoirs person amended retention than ever successful caller years. This gives the planners breathing abstraction to absorption connected improving reliability alternatively than managing sparse resources and rationing.
Calibrated h2o release
The calibrated h2o merchandise strategy of the Water Resources Department — factoring successful rainfall, inflow, and request — has helped to optimise reservoirs’ storage, supported by the dependable transportation of h2o from Krishna River successful Andhra Pradesh and from the Veeranam Tank successful Cuddalore district. At the bosom of the ₹271.50-crore pilot task successful Zone XIII is an effort to interruption Chennai’s long-standing dependence connected time-bound proviso schedules that has led to uneven organisation crossed areas. The inaugural aligns with the imaginativeness of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to marque Indian cities h2o unafraid done Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0.
The Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) is finalising tenders to name a concessionaire to upgrade the Pallipattu and Thiruvanmiyur water organisation stations. The upgrade, to beryllium completed successful 2 years, volition see improving organisation pipelines, automated controls, and SCADA-enabled real-time monitoring. These measures are captious for continuous, metered supply, and for maintaining unchangeable unit to forestall pipeline contamination. The h2o bureau has entered into an statement with the Water Corporation of Odisha, which implemented ‘Drink from Tap Mission’ successful Puri, to service arsenic a task absorption consultant.
According to the World Bank, the round-the-clock proviso is being implemented, oregon is nether execution successful assorted different States, including Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab, and Maharashtra. In Tamil Nadu, aviator projects are nether mode astatine a fewer different places, including Coimbatore and Tiruchi. However, Chennai residents spot the committedness of uninterrupted proviso with cautious optimism. The metropolis has agelong relied connected a mosaic of sources — groundwater and Metrowater supply, tanker, and progressively packaged drinking h2o — to span the persistent gaps. Chennai and its neighbourhood devour 2-3 crore litres of packaged h2o daily.
Welcoming the move, residents importune connected organisation of cleanable h2o and an accountable, sustainable supply. At Adyar, residents accidental continuous proviso volition assistance prevention the groundwater reserves. Chennai’s mean groundwater level has dipped marginally by 0.70 metres successful December 2025, compared with the erstwhile year, arsenic the northeast monsoon this play was marked by prolonged adust spells.
R. Krishna Mohan, a Besant Nagar nonmigratory of much than 5 decades, points to the strain that accelerated urbanisation has placed connected the groundwater table. “Having lived present since 1972, I’ve seen a once-abundant coastal aquifer determination to terrible accent owing to over-extraction. Water-metering and regularisation of borewells are captious to trim wastage, program for shortages, and support what remains of the coastal aquifer,” helium says.
Ageing pipelines
Concerns implicit ageing infrastructure and h2o prime persist adjacent successful the halfway parts of the city. Though complaints astir proviso disruptions person travel down, sewage contamination and issues caused by aged pipelines airs a superior threat. S. Gopi, secretary, Kodambakkam Subramanian Nagar Residents’ Welfare Association, says efforts to amended proviso would autumn abbreviated unless contamination risks are addressed. “Our locality has faced respective instances of sewage mixing successful drinking h2o successful the 4 years since the tempest h2o drains were built. Improperly aligned pipelines caused a driblet successful h2o unit successful the tail-end areas.”
Before moving to the adjacent signifier successful its strategy and installing h2o meters, Metrowater must guarantee that households get cleanable water, residents say. Replacing the aged lines and preventing sewage from entering tempest h2o drains are imperative if continuous proviso is to succeed.
In its guidelines for uninterrupted supply, the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs has highlighted the value of continuous pressurised proviso to people’s wellness and improving the deteriorating h2o quality. It has noted that contaminants tin participate pipelines done leaks successful intermittent h2o proviso during non-supply hours owing to the vacuum developed successful the pipeline.
Source augmentation is nary longer a large constraint. The absorption has shifted to equitable supply, request management, and expanding usage of recycled h2o to physique h2o resilience, says CMWSSB Managing Director T.G. Vinay.
The upcoming 4th desalination works astatine Perur, with a capableness of 400 cardinal litres a day, the precocious commissioned 2nd enactment from the Chembarambakkam treatment works to heighten distribution, the caller reservoir successful Thiruporur, and the enlargement of the recycled h2o capableness volition fortify Chennai’s h2o proviso base, accidental officials. Metrowater has estimated successful its maestro program that h2o request is apt to summation to 1,762 mld by 2057.
In the adjacent 5 to 10 years, Chennai tin enactment its yearly fearfulness of monsoon nonaccomplishment down and determination to a dependable, rationalised h2o supply. A web of decentralised h2o attraction plants, including those astatine Perungudi, Kolathur, and Mogappair, is being built to conscionable the increasing demand. The drinking h2o imaginable of lakes specified arsenic Porur and Ayanambakkam is being tapped, says Mr. Vinay. The large situation is the ageing h2o organisation infrastructure, and this volition beryllium addressed successful phases.
Controlling leaks
In the Adyar zone, the full organisation web volition beryllium divided into district-metered areas by fixing bound valves and travel meters to power leaks, trim the proviso of non-revenue water, and equilibrium the unit crossed the network.
The aviator task successful halfway areas, including successful 2 wards of Valasaravakkam, was initiated successful accordance with the mandates of the Japan International Cooperation Agency, which funds the Perur desalination project. SMEC International, the task absorption advisor for the caller desalination plant, is preparing a elaborate task study for the different zones covering halfway areas, including Tondiarpet, Perambur, and Teynampet.
Residents of Manali New Town constituent retired that the prime of piped h2o proviso has improved aft caller lines were laid six months ago. P.K. Thenkanal Isaimozhi of Manali New Town says the groundwater is disposable astatine a extent of 30 feet. But households mostly trust connected Metrowater’s three hours of regular supply.
“Water request volition summation arsenic much apartments travel up successful the area. Metering volition assistance measure consumption, but Metrowater must make consciousness to allay fears of over-billing erstwhile the strategy shifts to metered tariffs,” Mr. Isaimozhi says.
Metrowater officials accidental the uninterrupted h2o proviso volition beryllium expanded to each halfway areas successful phases. The h2o bureau is pursuing parallel initiatives to execute its extremity of converting Chennai into a water-secure city. The 98-km circular pipeline, oregon ringing main organisation system, volition interconnect each h2o sources with organisation points to guarantee h2o availability to each areas adjacent if 1 root fails. The full h2o organisation web volition acquisition a revamp erstwhile the ₹3,108.55-crore ring main organisation strategy and 24/7 h2o proviso projects are implemented.
As for the demand, Metrowater is targeting 1 lakh water-intensive users to instal astute h2o meters, and metering volition beryllium expanded to home consumers successful phases. Installing electromagnetic travel meters with Internet of Things (IoT) exertion successful h2o attraction and organisation web would spell a agelong mode successful identifying leaks and reducing non-revenue h2o supply, said officials.
Sewage management
Water experts person called for the instauration of a unified h2o absorption authority, connected the lines of the Chennai Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority, empowered to negociate caller and recycled and tempest h2o successful an integrated manner. They reason that a fragmented attack often hinders effectual readying and accountability.
B. Sakthivel, a hydrologist and advisor who works with authorities agencies, says lasting improvements to drinking h2o sources and infrastructure would beryllium imaginable lone erstwhile the full sewage loop — generation, collection, and attraction — is closed. The State authorities indispensable besides hole cardinal show indicators for sewerage absorption for utilities to guarantee measurable outcomes.
