Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

Govt. releases Rs. 35-cr. under Calamity Relief Fund

By Our Special Correspondent

CHENNAI JUNE 14. The State Government has released about Rs. 35 crores under the Calamity Relief Fund for water supply works to meet drought.

Executed under the supervision of District Collectors, the works relate to installation of mini-powerpumps, deepening of open wells, extension of water pipelines to uncovered areas and flushing of borewells, besides lorry-tanker supply.

Through two orders (one in April and the other in May), the Government sanctioned the amount.

Last year, it disbursed nearly Rs. 180 crores to the districts, including Rs. 5 crores for Chennai and Rs. 30 crores for the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board, according to an official in the Commissionerate of Revenue Administration, nodal agency for drought-relief management.

In the past one year, 22,000 works have been carried out in the districts to augment or supplement water supply.

Normally, the Collectors send proposals to the Commissioner of Revenue Administration, who, in turn, places them before a high-power committee. On clearance, the funds are given. ``As and when we receive the proposals from the districts, we process them and get the money released immediately'', the official says. The CRF is one of the sources for water supply works and the others include 11th Finance Commission grants, the MLA's constituency development fund and the Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana.

The TWAD Board's role is essentially to provide technical expertise to the district administration. ``Ours is a facilitation role, in minor water supply works'', says a senior board official.

But, in major works, the organisation plays the executing agency. In April last, it fulfilled a long-standing Coimbatore demand, transferring water from the Pillur dam to parts of Coimbatore served by the Siruvani scheme through interconnection of pipelines. Carried out in 25 days, the Rs. 1.7-crore interconnection work enabled transfer of 30 million litres a day. Prior to this arrangement, the areas served by the Siruvani had a supply level of 25 MLD against the demand for 100 MLD, the TWAD board sources say. The organisation went to the rescue of other chronically water supply-deficit districts such as Vellore and Tiruvannamalai, sinking infiltration wells.

Besides, the board, which maintains around 440 combined water supply schemes throughout the State, has delegated powers to field officers to attend to any contingency.

Giving details of the overall water supply status in the State, the board officials say that despite the drought conditions, they are able to meet the norms prescribed for urban local bodies in about 40 per cent of the areas. The situation is more or less similar in rural supply. In 39 habitations alone, the supply is abysmally low but this is because of problems such as salinity. ``We are planning to take up schemes for these areas to overcome water shortage on a permanent basis''.

RWH catching on

Apart from ``direct intervention'', the board is taking up the role of educator. It is continuing its campaign on water conservation and rainwater harvesting. The average groundwater level in the State touched an all-time low in February this year. It stood at 24 metres against the previous worst of 22 metres in 1991. In February 2002, the level was 20.5 metres.

In the meantime, a recent study of the groundwater status has revealed that the board's efforts at RWH promotion are paying-off, say the sources. While the average groundwater level in Dharmapuri district rose by two to four metres, it went up by one metre to 10 metres at Theni. So far, RWH structures have been put up in 424 locations in many parts of the State.

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