Tamil Nadu Water Crisis Deepens as Authorities Seize 200 Motors Drawing Water Illegally

Chennai: Over 200 motors have been seized by the Chennai Metrowater department over a span on 15 days. The Chennai Metrowater department has formed 1 team per zone and a total of 15 teams are going on rounds to check if people are using motors to draw water from the metrowater pipeline.

While the whole city is grappling with water crisis, water is stolen by a few people through the motors installed in their premises to get more water.

A senior official from Chennai Metrowater said: “We get information that they get less water because their neighbour has installed motors and use the metrowater. We send teams and when we find motors, we seize them. This is a continued effort from our side and we will continue to crack down on people who use motors illegally to get more water." This is nothing unusual or abnormal. Since there is water scarcity, illegal motors’ usage is on an increase.

Though the teams seize the machines, they haven’t taken any action on the offenders.

People of Chennai are now at the mercy of the water tankers. The Chennai Metrowater tankers are on demand and many residents are now banking heavily on private water tankers. Residents say they end up having verbal arguments with neighbours over water.

Meanwhile, IT companies are taking measures to tackle water crisis at their premises.

“In view of the challenging water situation in Chennai, we have taken a number of measures across our facilities in the city to conserve water while continuing to serve the interests of our business as well as employees. We have installed special nozzles into washbasin taps that help us make the best use of available water. These nozzles reduce the water flow to a mist by atomising the water into fine droplets, bringing down water consumption by 80% and preventing wastage." said a Cognizant spokesperson.

"We have also switched to biodegradable plates in all our cafeterias, temporarily closed shower facilities in our gyms, and minimised the washing of utensils in our campuses by our cafeteria vendors. As a result of these measures, we have been able to further optimise our water consumption, adding up thousands of litres to the water we save everyday via our water management programme,” he added.

But for now, the city is facing one of its worst water crisis and the four reservoirs in the city limit are almost dry.