No water woes for Chennaiites this summer

Chennai Jun 3 (UNI) Summer season is always a nightmare for the residents of this teeming metropolis who have been tormented by spells of water scarcity over the decades.

However, this year, though tormented by the rising temperatures, Chennaiites are breathing easy, at least on the drinking water front.

Chennai Metro Water, entrusted with the responsibility of supplying water to nearly five million people of the city, says it has not reduced the quantum of water supplied to the city nor will it reduce in the future.

''Absolutely. People will not face any water scarcity this year,'' Metro Water Chief Engineer Siva Kumar told UNI.

''We supply 575-600 million litre per day (MLD) which meets the city's requirements.

''Apart from this, our water tankers make around 1,300 trips a day to areas not having supply lines, mostly in the slums,'' he added.

''The Tamil Nadu government has also formulated various new schemes underlying the principles of 'Integrated Water Resources Management' (IAMWARM) to cope with water scarcity, which was the theme for World Water Day 2007,'' he added.

According to the government's proposed plan, the IAMWARM Project would be taken during the next financial year with World Bank's assistance, at a cost of Rs 2,547 crore for a project period of six years.

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