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From distress to relief
Sri Sathya
Sai Drinking Water Project for Chennai
Source:
Radio Sai
E-Magazine, February 1, 2004
http://www.radiosai.org/Journals/Vol_02/03Feb01/02_Cover_Story/relief.htm
For more than two
thousand years, India has been well known in Europe, especially
for its spices, and there was regular trade as well as exchange of
goods. Even knowledge [e.g., in mathematics and astronomy] flowed
from India to the West. Traders and travellers from Europe came to
India via the land route, which was also followed by Alexander
when he invaded India. Subsequently when Muslims began to control
the Middle East, the land route became blocked, and trade
plummeted. Europe was keen to somehow resume contact with India
and that was how the search began for a sea route. It may be
recalled, that one of those who wanted to discover this route was
Columbus.
Columbus sailed
forth seeking a sea route to India, and as is well known, Columbus
ended up discovering an altogether new continent. The challenge of
discovering a sea route to India continued to remain, and it was
Vasco de Gama of Portugal who finally made it. Thus it was that
the Portuguese became the first to establish colonies in India.
The other big powers quickly followed suit, and the British landed
on the East Coast of India in early eighteenth century in what was
then a small fishing village known as Chennaipatnam. Here they
built a fort [Fort St. George, that exists to this day], and
rapidly spread their influence all over the South, eliminating in
quick succession the Dutch and the French. Under the British,
Chennaipatnam became Madras, and grew to first become a town, then
a city and finally a metropolis. Incidentally, Madras has recently
been renamed Chennai. It is from Madras that the British later
fanned out to the North East and still later to the North West to
finally establish the Indian part of their Empire. Our story is
all about the water problem of Madras/Chennai, and how Swami has
provided the final solution.
There are no big
rivers near Madras and thus, as far back as the late nineteenth
century, there was a water problem. In 1884, a British Engineer
named Fraser gave thought for the first time for an organized
water supply system for the city of Madras. At that time, Greater
Madras had a population of about 4.7 lakhs [approximately half a
million]. Fraser suggested that a small dam be built across a
river flowing nearby. This river is mostly dry but gets water
during the NE Monsoon. A dam was built, and water from it was
taken through canals to two reservoirs named Sholavaram and Red
Hills. At that time, this water was used not only for providing
drinking water to Madras but also for cultivation. The water to
the city was taken to a filtration plant in a region of Madras
city called Kilpauk, before distribution to the public. This plant
exists to this day.
Some years later,
the supply of water for irrigation was stopped, and the stored
water was used exclusively for drinking purposes. In spite of this,
the reservoirs were inadequate since the city demand kept on
increasing. One more reservoir was built, this time at Poondi, but
once again demand soon outstripped supply.
In the early sixties
of the twentieth century, the Government at the Centre recognized
the problem of Madras and announced that some steps would be taken
to bring water from the Krishna River in the neighbouring state of
Andhra Pradesh to the city. A formal agreement to this effect was
signed in 1968, whereby the States of Maharashtra, Karnataka and
Andhra each agreed to release annually, form their share of
Krishna water, 5 TMC [TMC means thousand million cubic feet] of
water from the River Krishna for the city of Madras. Thus, Madras
was to get annually 15 TMC of Krishna water. But how exactly to
bring that water over such a long distance? That scheme would
require a lot of money which then was not in sight. Krishna water
for Madras remained a concept.
Towards the end of
the sixties and in early seventies, the Government of Tamil Nadu
[the State in which Madras is located] planned a scheme called the
Veeranam Project to bring water from the Kaveri river in the south.
This project collapsed, having become enmeshed in corruption
scandals. All that remained were huge concrete pipes lying by the
side of the coastal road near Madras, and big ditches dug to lay
the pipes.
The Veeranam Project
having failed, the Tamil Nadu Government decided it was time to
think seriously about Krishna water. It then made a deal with the
Government of Andhra Pradesh for bringing Krishna water to Madras.
Basically, the water of Krishna River stored at the Srisailam dam
in Andhra Pradesh was to be brought by a canal first to a
reservoir called Kandaleru reservoir in AP, and from there by
another canal about 150 km long to the Tamil Nadu [TN] border.
Continuing into TN, the canal was supposed to take the water to
the Poondi reservoir in Madras. This was the scheme.
Actually, the then
Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh had a grand idea of a scheme for
using Krishna water for irrigation all over AP, and the request of
Tamil Nadu gave him the opening he was looking for. If Tamil Nadu
gave money, he could use that money to build a canal from
Kandeluru reservoir up to the state border. This way, Tamil Nadu
would get water and Andhra Pradesh could use the canal to supply
water for irrigation in the southern region. The Chief Minister
further named the Kandeluru-Poondi [KP] canal as Telugu Ganga.
The KP Canal project was formally launched in 1983 by Indira
Gandhi at a formal function in Madras. AP spent about Rs. 2000
crores [1 crore = 10 million] on the entire project [covering
large parts of the State], while TN gave about Rs. 500 crores for
the KP canal or Telugu Ganga project as it was called. AP of
course dug canals all over the place whereas TN was interested
only in the canal linking Kandaleru to Poondi. As mentioned
earlier, AP wanted to ride piggy-back on this KP canal for
supplying water for irrigation to the southern region of AP. Years
passed and finally, the Kandaleru-Poondi canal of the Telugu Ganga
project was deemed to have been completed in 1996. A function was
also held to mark the ?completion?.
At that time, it was
said that of the 15 TMC released every year from Kandaleru, about
12 TMC would reach Poondi, after allowing for evaporation and
other losses. However, from 1996 to 2000, the annual flow was
quite poor. In some years, it was a miserable half TMC or so!
There were many reasons for this poor performance. Firstly, the
canal had been reduced to a long ditch, having caved in many
places due to erosion; that reduced flow. Next there was seepage,
which too reduced flow. Thirdly, farmers all along the route could
easily dig diversion channels and take away the water. That in
short is how the Telugu Ganga scheme failed to deliver.
Meanwhile, the
problem of Madras [now renamed Chennai] started becoming more and
more acute. It was at that juncture, that Bhagavan Baba made His
dramatic and totally unexpected announcement on 19th January,
2002. It was the occasion of the first anniversary of the Super
Specialty Hospital in Bangalore [the hospital was opened by PM
Vajpayee one year earlier]. A grand Health Meet had been organised
to celebrate the anniversary, and during the inaugural function,
Swami gave a Divine Discourse. Naturally, He spoke a lot about
health, health care and all that. But suddenly and most
unexpectedly, Bhagavan Baba started making a reference to the
drinking water problem of Madras. He said that He was greatly
moved by the plight of the people there, especially the slum
dwellers. He had received much Love from the people of that city
and He wanted to do something for them. The rich there could buy
water from tanker service but what about the poor? They had no
recourse except to polluted water. They were already suffering
from malnutrition and various diseases. And now, polluted water
made matters even worse. He had to do something for them, and He
was determined to do so. That was the essence of the dramatic
declaration made on 19th January, 2002.
Discussions were
then started with AP Government. Since Baba?s Trust had already
executed various water projects in AP bringing drinking water to
over two million people, the CM of AP was ready and eager to
co-operate with Baba and do all that was necessary so that Baba?s
promise to Chennai became a reality. After technical examination,
it was found that water flow to Chennai was minimal because the
original Telugu Ganga Canal linking Kandaleru [in AP] to Poondi
[in TN] had become dilapidated. So, it was decided to literally
rebuild the canal all the way [about 150 km] and
Baba?s Trust took upon itself the responsibility of funding the
entire project. In practice this meant a) making improvements to
the reservoir in Kandaleru so that it could hold enough water to
serve even during dry seasons, b) deepening and widening the canal
as required, and c) lining the canal with the LATEST technology to
totally eliminate seepage.
This work, has been
going on steadily since mid 2002, and has now been completed.
Related works in TN are also in progress and on the verge of being
completed. As always, Baba took personal interest, constantly
monitoring progress. Meanwhile, as an expression of gratitude to
Bhagavan Baba for all that He has done, the government of Andhra
Pradesh has decided to rename the project as
Sai Ganga, from the earlier ?Telugu
Ganga?.
This is an extra-ordinary development in national affairs. At a
time when inter-state water disputes are the order of the day,
here is an instance, probably the only one of its kind, where a
private charitable trust, commanding the love of the people, is
able to execute a project to bring the water of the river in one
state to the people of another.
Madras which now has
a population of over seven million is at last beginning to see
light at the end of the tunnel. Finally, it seems that the
nightmare would be over soon, thanks to Baba. People wonder what
Baba gets by way of return on His ?investments?? This question was
raised during a UN Habitat Meeting at which a presentation was
made by the Sri Sathya Sai Central Trust about Baba?s water
projects in AP, where nearly rupees 300 crores had been spent. The
Trust representative replied that while others view returns purely
in financial terms, for Baba, returns meant the Love that the
people gave back.. In fact, when the projects in AP were first
started, Baba?s guideline to the Trust was to bring drinking water
to as many people of Anantapur district as possible, in as many
villages as possible, in as short a time as possible, no matter
what the cost and difficulty. People wonder where the Trust gets
so much money to be so magnanimous. Baba says that it is Love that
makes it all possible.
Love is something
people normally wax eloquent about. But Baba with His projects [free
education and free medicare] has shown again and again that Love
can move mountains! The Chennai project is demonstrating that one
more time.
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