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Dr Binny Mathew 12th July2018

Asst Professor English Dept
St Berchman’s College, Kerala, India
binnykm@rediffmail.com

TITLE: THE IMPACT OF FLOODS, WATER CONTAMINATION AND HIDDEN DANGERS OF

DAMS IN KERALA

CONTENTS

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

HIGH RAINFALL AND DANGERS OF DAMS AND RESERVOIR

REASONS FOR WATER CRISIS

WATER TREATMENT AND REVERSE OSMOSIS

HEALTH AND SANITATION

CONCLUSION

REFERENCES

Abstract

The water crisis of India has a radical effect on different aspects in future. Water is desperately needed
for agriculture in rural areas. The issue of water sustainability for the years to come centers around
critical water sources such as reservoirs and groundwater. "Freshwater is not only precious and scarce
but also a finite resource which is unevenly distributed."(Jaitley, 2003, para4).

Government can help in many ways. Few of them are they can implement factory to have sewage
treatment, a plan of protecting and preserving clean water. the overall aim of this paper is to discuss

Dr .Binny Mathew

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3254552

how the current water scarcity, Public health sanitation, what causes water crisis and Solutions for
water Crisis.

Keywords: water scarcity, water crisis, water treatment, India, contamination, Old dams and
reservoirs, sanitation, Swachh Bharat.

Introduction: India is rapidly moving towards the scarcity for water at an alarming level.
Water scarcity is caused by a lack of investment in infrastructure and technology to draw water from
rivers and other water sources. Few reasons behind crisis are population growth and urbanization. The
issue has also been exacerbated by climate change, poor water management and a lack of political will
to deal with the crisis.
The concerned authorities remain negligent about the crisis that's posing a serious threat to the
country's stability because of politics. There are many reasons for the water crisis. Indians pump the
water from the underground for irrigation and now they almost run out of water and the Government
even though tried to solve the water issues. TI India’s ‘India Corruption Study 2005’, which sampled
14,405 respondents from 151 cities and 360 villages, found that water was one of the public services
most clearly identified with corrupt practices [1]. And this also has to be noted that India is not the
only country where the natural resources face the corruption from bureaucracy of the government. In
America a Water Law, passed on 10th July 2007, declared the public ownership of all surface and
underground water, regardless of whether it is located on private or public land. Landowners will
henceforth have to pay the government to use their own wells, signaling an increase in bureaucracy
that is likely to usher in a lucrative new arena for corruption [2].

India is suffering from water shortage for cultivation and drinking even though it has many big rivers,
some of them perennial rivers, flow through some parts of India. In the south India there are the
Krishna, Godavari, Cauvery, Tamaraparani, Perilya and other rivers. In the north there are the Ganges,
Brahmaputra, Indus, Mahanadi and other rivers. Some of these Rivers are contaminated. The report
states that an average of 200,000 Indian lives are lost every year due to inadequate supply or
contamination of water. Every river in India is polluted to some degree. Combination of sewage
disposal, industrial effluents, and chemicals from farm runoffs, arsenic, and fluoride has rendered
India’s rivers unfit for drinking, irrigation, and even industrial purposes [3]. The water quality in
underground wells violates the desired levels of dissolved oxygen (DO), having high concentrations of
toxic metals, fluoride, and nitrates [4] and coliform, the presence of which is one measure of filth.

High Rainfall in Kerala and Dangers of Dams and Reservoir: The abnormally high rainfall that
Kerala has received this year has led to over two dozen deaths in landslides and flash floods as well as
the opening of sluice gates of 24 dams which is a wakeup call on the dangers posed by extreme
weather.

There are many dangers emerging over deteriorating Dams that are old in Kerala. The three dams of
the Idukki project would fail if the Mullaperiyar dam fails. The expert said that 216.5 million cubic
meters of water would flow over the Idukki, Cheruthoni and Kulamavu dams in the event of a collapse
of the Mullaperiyar dam. The Mullaperiyar reservoir holds 316.5 million cubic meters of water and the
Idukki reservoir could hold only an additional 100 million cubic meters of water.

The rising water levels at the 123-year-old Mullaperiyar Dam in Idukki district, Kerala, fears the
devastation by residents living downstream areas which is the earthquake-prone district of Idukki.
Scientists have argued that if there is an earthquake in the region measuring above six on the Richter

Dr.Binny Mathew

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3254552

scale, the lives of over three million people will come under grave danger. The committee has noticed
more seepage openings, which will cause more severe safety problems when the water level goes up.

Reasons for water crisis: The main thing is polluting the water sources. People throws the waste
particle to water and pollute the water source. Industrial waste contains pollutants like asbestos, lead,
mercury and petrochemicals which are extremely harmful to both people and environment. Industrial
waste is discharged into lakes and rivers by using fresh water making the water contaminated.
Industries drain the chemicals to the nearby water resources. Sewage, garbage and liquid waste of
households, agricultural lands and factories are discharged into lakes and rivers. These wastes contain
harmful chemicals and toxins which make the water poisonous for aquatic animals and plants. Use of
fertilizer and pesticides also pollute the water.

Sea water gets polluted due to oil spilled from ships and tankers while traveling. The spilled oil does
not dissolve in water and forms a thick sludge polluting the water. When the acidic particles caused by
air pollution in the atmosphere mix with water vapor, it results in acid rain thereby causing acid rain.
Due to global warming, there is an increase in water temperature. This increase in temperature results
in death of aquatic plants and animals. This also results in bleaching of coral reefs in water.
Eutrophication is an increased level of nutrients in water bodies. This results in bloom of algae in
water. It also depletes the oxygen in water, which negatively affects fish and other aquatic animal
population.

There is increase in population Pressure on consumption of water, drying of old resources, global
warming degradation of forest land, wasting of water, no right plan for storing harvest water,
contamination of rivers, tanks, wells, lakes etc. These are the reason for scarcity of water. In addition,
fluoride and arsenic have become increasingly recognized as problem elements in a number of
groundwater sources, though they rarely occur together in high concentrations under the
hydrogeological conditions pertaining in the region. India’s rivers also have high fluoride content,
beyond the permissible limit of 1.5 ppm, which affects 66 million people nationwide are believed to
suffer from problems with fluorosis (dental or skeletal) as a result of long-term exposure to high-
fluoride drinking water. The polluted water then seeps into the groundwater and contaminates
agricultural products when used for irrigation. Over 21% of transmissible diseases in India are related
to unsafe water [5].

Water Treatment and Reverse osmosis: Some of the water Treatment methods are Membrane
filtration (low pressure and high pressure), ultraviolet irradiation, advanced oxidation, ion-exchange,
and biological filtration. Many of these technologies can be used for water treatment in water
industry. The raw sewage can be treated through sewage water treatment plant before it can be safely
released into the environment. To reduce the amount and toxicity of waste, it is passed through a
number of chambers and chemical processes in water treatment plant.

Another method is Conversion of nitrates in gas is called Denitrification. It is an ecological approach

to prevent leaching of nitrates in soil which helps stopping ground water from getting contaminated.

Ozone waste water treatment method is becoming very popular where the pollutants in water are
broken down by an ozone generator. In this Process, Ozone oxidizes bacteria, molds, organic material
and other pollutants in water.

Due to the increased amount of minerals found in water, various group-housing societies in cities like
Punjab, Noida, Bangalore and others have come up with domestic water purification systems which
have led to the demand of industrial RO systems all over which gives a better quality of water and

Dr.Binny Mathew

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3254552

eliminates all the chemical and biological contaminants by improving the taste, odour and appearance
of water.

Health and sanitation: Water is an integral part of not only human beings but all other creatures in the
world. We use it every day for different purposes such as domestic, agricultural and industrial. WHO
defines “sanitation as the provision of facilities and services for the safe disposal of human urine and
feces” (WHO home page). The United Nations-World Health Organization Joint Monitoring Program
for Water Supply and Sanitation defines “improved” sanitation as: “the means that hygienically
separate human excreta from human contact and hence reduces health risks to humans”. A Sanitation
handbook defines the term “sanitation as a process whereby people demand, effect, and sustain a
hygienic and healthy environment for themselves by erecting barriers to prevent the transmission of
disease agents”6.

Even though the water is polluted, Indians still use the water for drinking, and taking a shower. “The
river is making people sick.” (Thompson,2005, para14)7.

India stands out amongst the densest populated nations on the planet with least sanitation scope and
have indicated moderate advancement for the marker of sanitation.

Different diseases associated with fecal transmission are polio, hepatitis A and E, intestinal worms,
skin diseases like scabies, and eye contaminations like trachoma that can result in visual impairment.
According to World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF-'s Joint Monitoring Program for Water
Supply and Sanitation (JMPWSS) when looked at comprehensively on the targets set under MDG,
states for example, Madhya Pradesh and Orissa will attain MDG target in the one century from now.
Adults and children get diarrhea and different diseases from ingesting the disease-causing germs in
human excreta, these results in dehydration, malnutrition, fever, and even death, particularly of
children, elderly and with weak immune system.

Further, 17 States, including Kerala, Haryana, Meghalaya, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and most Union
domains effectively arrived at the MDG and TSC target.

Conclusion: Water is the most important thing in our life and we have to use the water efficiently to
reduce the wastage. Water crisis leads to increased poverty, migration of people in search of water,
social unrest and increase in violence. All of India’s 14 major rivers are badly polluted
(Tauris,1992,p305). Industry pours the untreated sewage into the river, because it only has the poor
recycling and poor wastewater treatment. The city of New Delhi dumps 200 million liters of raw
sewage and 20 million liters of industrial wastes in to the Yamuna River every day as the river passes
through the city on its way to the Ganges (Tauris,1992, para305).

There are several ways to deal with the problem of water shortage in India include harvesting rain
water, watershed management, and river interlinking, various water treatment and Reverse osmosis
methods. If we don’t have make the plan for the river immediately, we will see “An end to one of the
biggest civilizations.” (Thompson,2005,para11).

References:

[1] Centre for Media Studies, ‘India Corruption Study 2005: To Improve Governance’, TI India, New
Delhi, July 28, 2005.

Dr.Binny Mathew

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3254552

[2] Global Corruption Report Corruption in the Water Sector, 2008
http://www.indiawaterportal.org/data/res/Transparency_International_2008_Corruption_in_the_
Water_Sector.pdf#page=217

[3] Ramachandran, Asha, “Any Hope for India’s Water Woes,” India - Kerala News, 2006
http://www.greentreks.org/woodchuckcafe/features/feature_indiaswater.asp

[4] India: Water Supply and Sanitation, UNICEF Study 2002, P. 30

[5] India’s Water Crisis,” Water Partners International, http://www.water.org/programs/india/crisis.htm

[6] www.isca.in/IJSS/Archive/v4/i6/4.ISCA-IRJSS-2015-069.pdf

[7] Thompson, G. (2005, July,05). India-Water Crisis. Retrieved

July,18,2005 from
http://www.abc.net.au/foreign/content/2005/s1404374.htm

[8] Harrison, P., I.B. Tauris, 1992, The third revolution: environment,
population and a sustainable world, London.

Dr.Binny Mathew

Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3254552