Ronan Kelly
Retired 2020
Manipur water crisis worsens
Imphal, March 13: A severe water crisis is staring Manipur in the face that could affect the State?s economic growth.
We?ve been missing fish from our menu as we?ve spent extra money on water,? said a resident of Sega Road in Imphal west district.
This Imphalite?s four-member family spends about Rs 20 daily (Rs 600 or 13 US dollar per month) to buy 200 litres of water. (As a comparison US per capita daily water consumption is 260 Liters -Ro) The family?s annual water budget has risen to Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000. ?This is a huge amount for a poor family like us,? he said.
Like him, thousands of Imphalites have to buy water every day even as the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) aims to provide at least 135 litres of water for an individual living in urban area and 40 litres per capita per day in rural areas. The 7.55 lakh estimated population of Imphal and sub-urban areas, including floating population of paramilitary forces, need 101.9 million litres per day (MLD), according to sources. Efforts are on to bridge the gap as the actual production from 17 water supply plants is hardly 70 MLD against its installed capacity of 101.3 MLD.
...
Last year, the monsoon has played hide and seek with Manipur taking the biggest beating as the state recorded 67 per cent deficit rainfall (till July) followed by Nagaland, Meghalaya and Assam with rainfall shortage of 62 per cent, 55 per cent and 34 per cent.
According to meteorological office, Manipur?s annual rainfall was 1161.6 mm in 2008 and 991.6 mm in 2009. It was around 1576.2 mm till December 10, 2010. The State had a similar deficient rainfall in 2005 similar to that of last year (2009). (Agencies)
http://www.sentinelassam.com/northeast/story.php?sec=2&subsec=9&id=67745&dtP=2011-03-14&ppr=1#67745
Imphal, March 13: A severe water crisis is staring Manipur in the face that could affect the State?s economic growth.
We?ve been missing fish from our menu as we?ve spent extra money on water,? said a resident of Sega Road in Imphal west district.
This Imphalite?s four-member family spends about Rs 20 daily (Rs 600 or 13 US dollar per month) to buy 200 litres of water. (As a comparison US per capita daily water consumption is 260 Liters -Ro) The family?s annual water budget has risen to Rs 4,000 to Rs 5,000. ?This is a huge amount for a poor family like us,? he said.
Like him, thousands of Imphalites have to buy water every day even as the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) aims to provide at least 135 litres of water for an individual living in urban area and 40 litres per capita per day in rural areas. The 7.55 lakh estimated population of Imphal and sub-urban areas, including floating population of paramilitary forces, need 101.9 million litres per day (MLD), according to sources. Efforts are on to bridge the gap as the actual production from 17 water supply plants is hardly 70 MLD against its installed capacity of 101.3 MLD.
...
Last year, the monsoon has played hide and seek with Manipur taking the biggest beating as the state recorded 67 per cent deficit rainfall (till July) followed by Nagaland, Meghalaya and Assam with rainfall shortage of 62 per cent, 55 per cent and 34 per cent.
According to meteorological office, Manipur?s annual rainfall was 1161.6 mm in 2008 and 991.6 mm in 2009. It was around 1576.2 mm till December 10, 2010. The State had a similar deficient rainfall in 2005 similar to that of last year (2009). (Agencies)
http://www.sentinelassam.com/northeast/story.php?sec=2&subsec=9&id=67745&dtP=2011-03-14&ppr=1#67745