The bountiful rainfall of 121 cm recorded by Tamil Nadu in 2015, regarded in certain parts of the State as the nature’s fury, was barely sufficient for the groundwater table to sustain its position even for a year.
When the State Ground and Surface Water Resources Data Centre in December 2016 took readings of its observatory wells, there was nothing to feel pleased about the findings. Wells in 30 out of 31 districts had witnessed a fall. The only exception was the Nilgiris district, where a marginal rise was recorded compared to the corresponding period of 2015. Chennai has been left out by the Data Centre in view of Metrowater monitoring the groundwater situation in the city, but the situation was no more different. Ironically, it was during the northeast monsoon of 2015 (October-December) that the State received 67 cm rainfall, 53% more than the anticipated rainfall. Besides, from 2004 to 2012, the State for nine consecutive years had received higher rainfall than anticipated. In 2013, the monsoon’s rainfall was less but it was only in 2014 it was deficient, going by the standards of the Meteorological Department.
Asserting that the absence of law on extraction has led to greater depletion of groundwater in most parts of the State, P.M. Natarajan, geologist and former Director of the Centre for Climate Change in the Periyar Maniammai University, contends that the depletion is taking place at a much faster rate than expected. Even in Thanjavur town, which is part of the Cauvery delta, one has to dig 300 ft for a “sustainable bore well.” It is time that the government come out with a law on groundwater, he points out.
At present, for Chennai and 302 villages of Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts, there exists, on paper, a law on groundwater regulation. In 2003, another law was framed by the government for the remaining parts of the State, but it never came into force. Ten years later, it stood repealed and in July 2014, the government announced regulations, without any legal backup, for groundwater drawal for housing and infrastructure projects. Some features have since been incorporated in municipal laws. Asked why the Chennai groundwater law has not been implemented vigorously, Metrowater’s response is that that enforcement has to wait till the gap between demand and supply is bridged.
