Chengalpet and Kanchi parched

Chennai: Acute water shortage has been reported in several regions south of Chennai, including in Kancheepuram, Chengalpet and Madurantakam, this summer. With a population of over 2.5 lakh, Kancheepuram requires as much as 1.25 lakh litres of water for its daily use. Yet, the current situation is so bad that only about 50,000 litres is supplied at present.

When asked, a Kancheepuram municipality official acknowledged they are grappling with the problem. He partly attributed this to the alarming decrease in groundwater level. “Earlier, bore water could be found at 120 feet, now the situation is bad. Water is available only at 600 feet and even then, it is salty,” the official said. To overcome the problem, the municipality has allocated '2 crore that includes sum for setting up pumpsets in over 40 places.

In Chengalpet with a population of over 80,000, the local administration has taken up works at a cost of '96 lakh to implement a new drinking water scheme. This included replacing the old pipelines carrying water to households. Kumar Raja, a resident, said they faced difficulty to get potable water despite the presence of nearby Palar riverbed. “Hence we are forced to depend on private suppliers, who have hiked the rates of water supplied in cans,” he said. While Chengalpet requires 70,000 litres of water daily, it gets just over 45,000 litres at present, a local administration official said.

Water shortage has been reported also at Madurantakam. Residents say water supply is very erratic. The supply is only once in two-three days and that too for a few hours.