Chennai: Residents
of Tambaram are facing an acute drinking water shortage this summer due
to fast depleting ground water table in the Palar river basin.

The
Palar river basin is a major source of drinking water for the Southern
suburbs of Chennai including Tambaram and Palla­varam municipalities.

Though
the Tambaram municipality officials claim that they are supplying
drinking water to the resident once in four days, the public says that
they barely get water once in a week. At present, Tambaram receives 65
lakh litres of water a day as against the actual requirement of 125 lakh
litres from the Palar basin. 

Tamil Nadu Water Supply and
Drainage Board (TWAD) officials cite depletion of water table in the
Palar basin, pilferage of water from the pipeline in Villayambakkam near
Wallajahbad by farmers and frequent power cuts as reasons for the fall
in the water supply. “The problem was acute last week. Now we are
receiving 90 lakh liters a day as we are bringing the water through
Oragadam pipeline,” the official said.

Tambaram
municipal chairman M. Karikalan said that the main problem facing the
local body is not the water shortage but the inadequate distribution
facilities. “The water pipelines laid in the municipality is nearly five
decades old and it gets frequently damages as it could not withstand
the pressure,” he said, adding that the municipality has drawn up a
proposal to revamp the existing pipelines at a cost of `35 crore for
which the funds have been sought from the state government.

Besides,
the local body also proposes to construct two water tanks at Old
Tambaram and Thiruneer­malai Road with one lakh litres capacity each in
addition to the one at Muthuranga park. “We are taking all the necessary
steps to ensure supply of drinking water to each and every household in
the local body,” he said.