The Hindu               28.05.2013

Hogenakkal water for Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri districts from tomorrow

Jayalalithaa will formally commission the project through video-conferencing.

A drinking water supply project, conceived nearly 50 years ago for water-starved and fluoride-hit people of Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts in north-western belt, is to become a reality on Wednesday when Chief Minister Jayalalithaa formally commissions through video-conferencing.

The project, now called Hogenakkal Water Supply and Fluorosis Mitigation Project, was originally mooted when K. Kamaraj was Chief Minister in the 1960s. Over the years, it witnessed various changes and eventually, when the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam was in power, the project took off.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) decided to fund the 80 per cent of the project cost, which is around Rs. 1,928 crore. A senior official of the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board, the executing agency, says that in terms of cost, this is the biggest taken up by the Board.

But, the significance of the project is not just about the cost. It is going to serve people in a region, which is among less developed in many respects.

As per an estimate of the funding agency, the districts of Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri had, as of 2006, about 1.1 million people living below poverty line.

According to 12th Five Year Plan document of the State Planning Commission, human development indices of the Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts are 0.748 and 0.707 against the State’s overall figure of 0.765.

Known for chronic water shortage, the two districts receive less rainfall compared to many other parts of the State. Their average annual rainfall is 815 mm whereas the State’s annual rainfall is 977 mm. But, what affects them more is the presence of fluoride, harmful to the human body, in the groundwater. People suffer from dental and skeletal fluorosis, says a note prepared by the funding agency.

A document of the Municipal Administration and Water Supply Department [under whose administrative control comes the TWAD Board] states that among 3.8 lakh school students assessed for dental fluorosis, the intensity of the problem was severe in respect of three per cent of the students while it was moderate in the case of 10 per cent.

Taking into account all these aspects, the authorities have designed the project, which will benefit about 3.3 million spread over three municipalities, 17 town panchayats and 6,755 rural habitations in the two districts.

Using Cauvery as the source, the project can take care of the requirements of four million. On completion of the project, all rural habitations will have the prescribed norm of 40 litres per capita per day (LPCD) and the urban local bodies, 135 LPCD, adds the official.

The Times of India              27.05.2013 

Hogenakkal water supply scheme in 2 dists from May 29

CHENNAI: Chief minister J Jayalalithaa will on Wednesday commission the much-awaited Hogenakkal water supply scheme, which will benefit the fluorosis-hit districts of Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri. The 1,929-crore project will help supply water to 6,755 rural and urban habitations of both districts. The project was initiated by the previous DMK government and will bring some respite to water deficit Tamil Nadu.

Nearly 30 lakh people will get potable drinking water from the scheme, funded by the Japanese Bank of International Cooperation. The project that was initiated in 2008, faces a few hiccups that came in way of its implementation in December last year.

"Initially, three municipalities, 16 town panchayats and 50% of the rural habitations will be covered. In a month or two, the remaining areas will get water in a phased manner," Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board managing director P Ekambaram said. The necessary infrastructure and civil works have been completed for the entire project, while 80% of the work was completed after the AIADMK came to power.

The launching of the project itself triggered controversies, with Karnataka alleging that Tamil Nadu deviated from the original plan to extract additional water for the supply. It also claimed that the project site itself was on a disputed land. This was contested by Tamil Nadu. "Hogenakkal falls within the limits of Tamil Nadu. There is a need for 160 million litres of water a day for the scheme. However, there is a good inflow into Hogenakkal," sources said, adding there would not be any problem in water supply to the identified habitations even during the peak summer.

As per government reports, groundwater in these districts contains much higher fluoride level than the permissible level of 1.5 mg/litre. Dharmapuri has 13mg of fluoride in a litre of water, while it is 9mg/litre in Krishnagiri.