Water management and conservation is an essential component of sustainable regional planning. Surface as well as ground water knows no administrative boundaries and should be managed and conserved in a coordinated way. The key issues affecting our water currently are:
Depletion of groundwater. Aquifers in coastal regions (as well as inland) all over India are reported to have turned saline because of salt water intrusion and groundwater levels are fast declining due to unsustainable extraction and inadequate recharge.
Surface water management. Most of the traditional irrigation tanks of south India today are in neglected conditions and are heavily silted up, having lost their original storage capacity. Additionally loss of forest cover has further led to soil erosion, disappearing biodiversity and finally poor groundwater recharge from the rains.
Ground and surface water pollution. While solid waste management is now slowly being recognized as an issue to be addressed in the urban setting, this awareness is only gradually extending to the rural areas. The problem is worsened by inappropriate sanitation and open defecation. Treatment of waste water will not only avoid ground and surface water pollution, but also make it available for re-use.
An Integrated Planning approach at a regional scale is the only way out for appropriate water management and conservation and we can do this in the Auroville, Pondicherry and surrounding areas by working in a coordinated way with the administrations of Pondicherry & Tamil Nadu (Villupuram & Cuddalore districts).
In light of these issues, Town and Country Planning, Government of Pondicherry, L’avenir d’Auroville, Pondy CAN and INTACH are organizing a consultation meet on “Water Management Through Integrated Planning and Regional Collaboration” to be held at Town Hall in Auroville on 15 May 2008. The Consultation Meet will bring together the concerned authorities from the administrations and experts who have worked in this region to address the water issue at regional scale and give recommendations for future water management and conservation. Dr. Harjit Singh Anand, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation (HUPA) will be the chief guest.
Program:
09.00 am – Tea
09.30 am – Welcome by Mr. Ramaswamy, IAS, Secretary, Auroville Foundation
09.35 am – Purpose of the meet by Mr. G. Durairaj, Chief Town Planner, Govt of Pondicherry
09.45 am – Address by Dr. Harjit Singh Anand, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India
10.00 am – 11.15am – Presentations followed by Questions/Answers
- Regional Perspective & Historical Evolution – Tency & Prashant, Auroville
- Salt water intrusion into ground water in Pondicherry -Dr. A. Baskar, Professor and Head, PAJANCOA & RI
11.15 am – Tea
11.30 am – 12.15 – Presentations followed by Questions/Answers
- Water supply proposals for Pondicherry- Future plans – PWD, Pondicherry
- Water Projects in eastern Villupuram – Villupuram Collectorate
12.15 – 12.50pm – Panel discussion
12.50 – Concluding remarks by Dr. Harjit Singh Anand, IAS, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation, Government of India
1.00pm – Lunch
Beautiful Pondicherry 
Excellent effort. Hope that this meeting is successful in charting out a road map in protecting the existing water bodies, treating the sewage water and inspiring people to do water harvesting. Ideal would be to institute a regional body which will coordinate the various government departments and involve public participation to implement the water policies.
Its apt that this dialogue takes place in Auroville. Planning and implementation require strategic intent and capacity for efforts. Urban Development is sine qua non of poverty alleviation. Poverty and lack of water management are the victims of the intellect strong India!! What a pathetic situation, it is!!
Micro-planning needs to be an integral part of the regional planning. The integrated planning needs to have its reference frame to include everything that has a bearing on the water management in a holistic manner. Flood control mechanisms, for instance, need to be factored into; this correspondent is one of the members of 10 Plan Draft making committee of Planning Commission on Flood Control. Its conversations included the discussion on cost of rehabilitation and cost of creating infrastructure to contain flood menace- particularly the human caused like unfettered habitats on river-bunds!!
Let there be crisp dialogue, if time permits and feasible, on Pondicherry centric situation for about 30 minutes. This includes drains, habotations on their bunds, etc…and the methoda of treatment available. Wish the dialogue a satisfying experience..to all stake-holders.
Dear Professor Raya,
Thank you for your comment. The organizers would be delighted to work with you in the integrated and regional planning process. Please feel free to get in touch with Pondy CAN: pondycan [at] gmail [dot] com.
Somehow i missed the point. Probably lost in translation 🙂 Anyway … nice blog to visit.
cheers, Matricidal.