CPM rally for groundwater awareness
This year, most of the lakes including Madurantakam, Uthiramerur and Thenneri had dried up
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-08-09 06:35 GMT
Chennai: With plundering of groundwater going on unabated, CPI (M)’s Kancheepuram district unit has taken up a 1,200 km campaign to create awareness on groundwater exploitation.
Despite being endowed with several water bodies, the district was facing a drought like situation with people facing severe drinking water shortage, said E. Shankar, the party’s district secretary.
This year, most of the lakes including Madurantakam, Uthiramerur and Thenneri had dried up. “Monsoon failure is one of the reasons. Non desilting and deepening of the lakes and unchecked encroachments in catchment areas of the water bodies had led to water scarcity,” he said while campaigning at Kalpakkam.
Palar helped recharge water table. After illegal sand mining that destroyed the river, ground water in the river bed was being tapped by various companies.
Overexploitation of water in the district had left farmers jobless with no water available for agriculture, he said, adding that people were also facing severe drinking water shortage. The campaign will go on till August 11.