TERI to sort water problems in Meghalaya

Shillong, Nov 4 (UNI) The Meghalaya government has roped in India's premier multi-disciplinary research organization - The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) - to sort out the increasing water demands of its growing urban population.

TERI had proposed to take up a comprehensive study of the state's water resources, major catchment areas as well as water supply systems on the basis of which future plans could be considered, TERI consultant Prabir Sengupta said at an introductory workshop here.

He said, '' High population growth rates, increased urban migrations, and growing tourism sector are likely to have severe strain on water resources, and if this (unplanned water use) continued, the state would face serious consequences. '' '' We hope to work with the state government in planning its future water management strategies, '' Mr Sengupta said.

The multi-disciplinary research organisation had offered both short-term and long term interventions. The former strategy involved designing effective rain water harvesting, conservation and management systems.

Meghalaya Chief Secretary Ranjan Chatterjee said Cherrapunjee and Mawsynram, which received an annual rainfall of 12,000 mm, still faced water scarcity during the dry season.

'' TERI has done extensive work on the Rain water Harvesting technology packages for hill states, such as Uttaranchal, '' Nitish Jha, its water resources policy and management fellow, said.

He said Meghalaya, endowed with high rainfall and many mountain streams, could successfully adopt location specific rain harvesting models to supplement the state's growing water supply demands.

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