oppn parties Chennai Goes Dry, Government In Denial

Story Of The Day

Assessee Not Responsible For Ensuring TDS Is Paid To The Government: Delhi HC
OPINIONS : Strongly Expressed

January 22, 2025

People Are Talking About

Rohit Warns Sarfaraz, Police Use It To Warn Two-Wheeler Riders

News Snippets

  • Sikh extremists attacked a cinema hall in London that was playing Kangana Ranaut's controversial film 'Emergency'
  • A Delhi court directed the investigating agencies to senstize officers to collect nail clippings, fingernail scrappings or finger swab in order to get DNA profile as direct evidence of sexual attack is often not present and might result in an offender going scot free
  • Uniform Civil Code rules cleared by state cabinet, likely to be implemented in the next 10 days
  • Supreme Court reiterates that there is no point in arresting the accused after the chargesheet has been filed and the investigation is complete
  • Kolkata court sentences Sanjoy Roy, the sole accused in the R G Kar rape-murder case, to life term. West Bengal government and CBI to appeal in HC for the death penalty
  • Supreme Court stays criminal defamation case against Rahul Gandhi for his remarks against home minister Amit Shah in Jharkhand during the AICC plenary session
  • Government reviews import basket to align it with the policies of the Trump administration
  • NCLT orders liquidation of GoAir airlines
  • Archery - Indian archers bagged 2 silver in Nimes Archery tournament in France
  • Stocks make impressive gain on Monday - Sensex adds 454 points to 77073 and Nifty 141 points to 23344
  • D Gukesh draws with Fabiano Caruana in the Tata Steel chess tournament in the Netherlands
  • Women's U-19 T20 WC - In a stunning game, debutants Nigeria beat New Zealand by 2 runs
  • Rohit Sharma to play under Ajinkye Rahane in Mumbai's Ranji match against J&K
  • Virat Kohli to play in Delhi's last group Ranji trophy match against Saurashtra. This will be his first Ranji match in 12 years
  • The toll in the Rajouri mystery illness case rose to 17 even as the Centre sent a team to study the situation
Calling the case not 'rarest of rare', a court in Kolkata sentenced Sanjay Roy, the only accused in the R G Kar rape-murder case to life in prison until death
oppn parties
Chennai Goes Dry, Government In Denial

By Sunil Garodia

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Editor-in-Chief of indiacommentary.com. Current Affairs analyst and political commentator.

When residents of Chennai are forced to search for drinking water, are paying bribes and even spending nights looking for the elusive water tanker, it is disgusting to hear Chief Minister E K Palaniswami say that the reports of the water crisis in the city are exaggerated. Governments choose to be in denial over every crisis leading to ugly consequences. Palaniswami would do well to take corrective long term measures instead of treating the matter as a one-off situation and giving vague replies to searching questions asked by the Madras High Court.

It is true that the severe summer this year has dried up water in the city at an alarming rate. But the fact is that the government has no water management policy in place. Most of Chennai’s water bodies have disappeared (this is common to all Indian cities where land sharks in collusion with corrupt politicians and bureaucrats have been appropriating water bodies). The city had 60 large water bodies before 2000. Only 28 remain now. The city’s water supply has never matched the demand. The Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board normally supplies only 830 million litres a day (mld) while the city needs about 1,200 mld. This year, the agency’s water supply dipped to 550 mld, resulting in a severe crisis.

Prime Minister Modi has said that conservation and proper use of water, including the supply of piped water to most Indian cities, would be the focus of his second term. The Centre has put a new Jal Shakti ministry in place. These are positive developments. The Tamil Nadu government must also recognize that Chennai’s woes are not temporary or only due to the severe summer. With no water management policy in place, water shortage is likely to be a permanent issue in Chennai. Hence, the government must initiate measures to fix the problem on a long-term basis. 

Pic courtesy: indian express

Other Stories You Make Like

Editorials

Turmoil In Mollywood

Turmoil In Mollywood

NDA 3.0: Coalition Dharma

NDA 3.0: Coalition Dharma

In Depth

Supreme Court Gets Strict On Child Pornography

Supreme Court Gets Strict On Child Pornography

Editor's Pick

Budapest Chess Olympiad: India Are World Team Champions

Budapest Chess Olympiad: India Are World Team Champions
© 2014 India Commentary. All rights reserved.