RAINS AND WATER MANAGEMENT

 From Sampath’s Desk:

  

RAINS AND WATER MANAGEMENT

 

“Are we getting three spells of rain every month”, ancient Tamil kings used to ask their Court ministers in the past. Many old Tamil literatures also make a mention of 'three spells of rain in a month'. Vaishnavite Poetess Sri Aandaal also refers to 'Mummari' (three spells of rain a month). The question necessarily raises another question as to what was the idea behind that question? Whether the question had carried its literal meaning only or had been used idiomatically to mean, “Is all well?” If the former were the real nuance, one can assume that even during non-rainy seasons there used to be at least three spells of rain a month once, which is not the case nowadays. Massive abuse of nature resulting in environmental degradation, global warming and resultant climate change are said to be reasons for muted rain cycles.

 

Who can afford to miss the soil smell of the initial rains called ‘petrichor’? Who can resist viewing the drizzling – a breathtaking natural scenic beauty? When heavy rains lash, one can very well see water pouring down in an orderly pattern of slender water strings descending from the sky onto the earth in a flash, consecutively and unceasingly. And when it hits the ground, say any road or street, it produces a scenic beauty of a paddy-field full of just sprouting plants, consecutively appearing and disappearing all in a jiffy though! What an eye-catchy and mind-pleasing setting created by a downpour. Rainbow is a multicolour spectacular resplendence on the sky. 

 

Cloud-bursts, thunder and lightning are awesome natural phenomena and scientific knowledge feeders. Rain, a gift of Nature had always fascinated all alike, irrespective of age. As a schoolboy I always welcomed heavy rains. For it would get me firstly a holiday for school enabling me to enjoy experiences of thrill, excitement, hilarity and prankishness a rainy day was full of, not to speak of short-lived brooks and/or rivulets flowing across roads, streets and/or other terrains due to heavy water outpouring providing an ideal setting for an visual feast for children to make mirth by putting afloat a fleet of paper ships and other floatable objects.

 

Wading through sheets of water, kicking up stagnant/running water to splash it all over and getting drenched in drizzling are usual pastimes of children during rainy days. I was no exception albeit inevitable consequences of getting taunted and being yelled at by parents and elders at home besides a rare thrashing.

 

To quote John Updike, "Rain is grace; rain is the sky descending to the Earth; without rain, there would be no life." Yes, the scent of initial rains is unique one can ill-afford to miss enjoying.

 

Thanks to the Rain God, India has been getting copious rains in the last few years in absence of the spoilsport ‘El Niño’ factor.

 

Rain, a bounty of the Mother Nature, is the blood, flesh, backbone and soul of human-life. Necessity of storing rain water had always engaged the attention of the water managers, past and the present.

 

Greater Chennai is on a fast expansion mode with massive industrialization including automobile industries and IT/MNC companies around it with a never-before population explosion. As every family yearns to own independent shelter today, the ‘once lake-cum-low-lying areas/agro-lands’ in its peripheries fraught with flooding problems during rainy seasons have been converted into house-sites and sold for many years. Today the city is left with only a few lakes as against 30 once. There is need for constantly deepening and expanding their storage capacity.

 

Rains are welcome notwithstanding a trail of hardships they are fraught with, which however are transitory – just for a short period; and it is the monsoon rains that cater to our water requirements for the whole year till the next monsoon especially for South Indian states.

  

Today we make a tall but empty talk of converting seawater into drinking water. But it is paradoxical we magnanimously allowed, year after year, huge quantities of water from perennial rivers of the North and monsoon-induced spate of South rivers, to join the sea and then leisurely think of converting the brackish and metallic seawater into drinking water! Free water made water at a cost! It smacks of trying to deal with the tiger by its tail!

 

Measures like estimating water available in shallow aquifers, deeper aquifers, use of water conservation techniques, redefining the criteria for recycling and reuse of effluents, installation of water meters, ground water drafting, water auditing, efficient use of recycled water and reuse of water, etc. are crucial in water management.

 

The never-before-seen flood havoc wrought by the 2015 devastating downpours that pounded Chennai was nothing but demonstration of a trail of adverse consequences of floods that an unplanned system could trigger! At that time, with almost the entire quantum of monsoon rain precipitating in just 2-3 days, it took the Chennai-ites and the authorities unawares. Flooding, water-logging, clogged drains, etc. brought the city to a grinding halt throwing the normal life haywire, seriously affecting road and rail transport and telecom connectivity. Water-locked hamlets, pockets, houses, roads, streets, etc. made the situation pell-mell. Rain water entering the houses especially in low-lying areas played havoc with the residents who were neither able to remain indoor nor come out. It was a nightmarish experience to many.

 

Better designs and expansion of drainage/sewage systems, increasing number of storage points and ensuring their proper maintenance including de-silting before monsoon, procurement of sufficient number of machines for monsoon preparedness, etc. would be helpful measures against flood related problems.

 

 

R.SAMPATH