Tourism Minister K. Lakshminarayanan launching the ‘Neer Kudum Yatra’ at the inauguration of ‘Water Fest-23’ organized at Alliance Francaise, Puducherry on Thursday. , photo credit: ss kumar
PWD Minister K. Lakshminarayanan on Thursday said the government is carefully considering the pros and cons of setting up desalination plants to reduce dependence on depleting groundwater reserves to meet the growing drinking water needs of the city.
He was speaking at the launch of the seven-week long ‘Waterfest’ 23- ‘Stewardship for Water and Biodiversity’. The third edition of the celebration, which began on World Wetlands Day and ends on World Water Day (22 March), is organized by ‘All for Water for All’ (A4W4A), an association of individuals and organizations campaigning for better water management. is a group of
Mr. Lakshminarayanan said that at least 10 firms had shown interest in setting up desalination plants, adding that the government was considering the pros and cons of investing in this technology. While there is a case to be made for harnessing alternatives such as desalination to augment water supply in Puducherry, which received the Jal Jeevan Mission award for consecutive years for its progress in piped water coverage of urban and rural households, the government is also Was conscious. Low potable water to high wastewater ratio, he said.
The minister said the flip side of desalination was that only 40% could be purified for consumption, handling wastewater, even with possibilities of reuse after treatment, was a challenging proposition.
Outlining the various short term and long term measures being taken by the government, the Minister said that along with these efforts the public also shared the responsibility of using water judiciously.
French Deputy Consul General in Puducherry Carol Jose said that India and France have drawn up a roadmap to enhance their bilateral exchanges on blue economy and a common vision of ocean governance and sustainable and resilient coastal and waterways infrastructure cooperated on.
Stating that the countries are cooperating on many issues and on various fronts, Ms. Josse pointed to the drinking water project for the population of Puducherry which is being implemented with AFD assistance of 65 million Euros (around ₹550 crore) and technical support.
Member Secretary, Department of Science, Technology and Environment N. Ramesh said Puducherry faced several challenges to its water systems despite its unique position of being home to 650 ponds, 84 irrigation tanks and seven rivers. He advocated a water use policy that included using 50% of needs from groundwater, 25% from surface water and 25% from desalination.
Shri Lakshminarayanan also launched the ‘Neer Kudam Yatra’, in which pots filled with water from Osteri Lake would be carried from one village/neighborhood to another as a relay.
Prabir Banerjee, co-founder of Pondikan, a civil society organization and coordinator of the event, said the decorated pots would be passed out from seven places in Puducherry-Auroville-Villupuram-Cuddalore. The campaign will highlight the message of water conservation and build collaborative networks considering the interdependence of communities in the biosphere spread over an area of about 2,500 sq km.
At the school-level, the festival will have various events to promote the concept of “water management”. Cleaning of local water bodies, One School-One Pond (OSOP) workshop involving coastal communities for ocean conservation and a session on making crafts from water hyacinth are being organised.
Doris Barboni, Head of Ecology, French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP), announced the winners of the wetlands photo contest in four categories.
Sathish Nallam, president of the Alliance Francaise in Puducherry, and TP Raghunath of the Alliance for Good Governance also spoke.
Water oath was also taken in the program.