Says will ration water from Loktak Lake if the need arise
IMPHAL, April 22: Manipur is facing an alarming shortage of water at present, admitted PHE minister, I Hemochandra after a series of visits to water supply schemes in and around the state capital today.
If the need arise, water from the Loktak Lake will be treated and rationed to the people, he assured.
The minister along with a team including media persons today visited several water supplies including the Porompat Water Supply, Canchipur Water Supply, Singda Dam Water Supply and the Koirengei Water Supply starting from early morning.
The present situation has constrained drawing of raw water from the intake points of the water supply. Raw water was pumped up from Imphal River, Iril River and Singda Dam for treatment at the different water plants, he said before acknowledging that the water level at these intake points are running low as of now.
Even though two-three water supply plants cater to the requirements of Greater Imphal town, since the level of raw water is running low, there is no way around unless there is rain, the minister observed.
The government has a contingency plan, as people cannot do without drinking water, he said.
There is a need to conserve the remaining water volume, he asserted.
A series of meetings have been conducting on the issue, he said.
There is still some water volume which is being rationed and will work out a way to last until the rains come.
The minister said there is also consideration to restrict private water carriers, however, the authority is trying to point out the places where water scarcity is the worst. This all will however, be short term water management, and as for long term policy there is no other solution other than forestation and conserving water bodies, Hemochandra said.
Since the past two three years, there has been an acute shortage of raw untreated water, as the state has been facing a dry season during March to May, he observed.
Since the water source at Singda Dam is also low at present, there is no way water can be pump out, he continued.
As for water body conservation, there is a need of inter-departmental co-operation, he said.
Elaborating further, he said the water bodies like the rivers are controlled by the Irrigation and Flood Control Department, forest and environment comes under the Forest department.
Now there is a need for one team, one direction approach for the next few years in the state, he observed.
The minister also acknowledged that there is a lot of water theft from the main primary and secondary water pipelines.
Not only this, but there are also lots of leakages and unauthorised taping of water, he continued.
Now there is a water crisis in the state, but the department is wholeheartedly working to redress the issue and the people are appealed not to panic, he said.