“World Water Day is not a day for celebration but a day for introspection and to be aware of the harsh reality that we are at the brink of losing our water resources,” said K. Sakthivel, founder of Rainstock, a social entrepreneurship venture for water management systems.
To mark World Water Day, Rainstock released findings of a study it carried out on quality and depth of groundwater at different parts of the city and its peripheries. The study reveals that the average Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) level in the groundwater at Vilangudi, Iravathanallur, K. Pudur and TVS Nagar was among the highest among samples taken from 21 areas.
While the permissible limits for TDS, which includes dissolved salts and minerals, is 2000 mg/l according to the IS 10500:2012 standards, experts say any figure above 500 mg/l means the water is unfit for drinking.
“The peripheries of the city without a proper underground drainage system had highly polluted groundwater. In the recently developed areas where the builders did not provide a proper sewage disposal facility, the sewage has seeped into the ground and polluted the soil and groundwater,” Mr. Saktivel said.
“The geographical study of groundwater levels presents a gloomy picture. We have presented only the average figures. It is a matter of concern that bore wells had been sunk to a depth of 800 feet in individual houses at Gomathipuram and other areas. More than 40 per cent of houses in the city are fully dependent on corporation water,” Mr. Sakthivel said.
The study was carried out by students of Pandian Saraswathi Yadav College and volunteers from city-based organisations such as ‘Maram Madurai.’
They collected 50 to 80 samples from houses in each locality.
It was found that in many houses rainwater harvesting structures (RWH) were far from satisfactory.
V. Ponraj, Scientific Advisor to former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who released the findings of the study in the city on Sunday, said community-level RWH projects and efforts to desilt and maintain tanks should be taken up through private-public partnerships.
“It is a matter of concern that bore wells had been sunk to a depth of 80 feet in houses”
