Port Blair, March 12: The Member of Parliament, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Shri. Kuldeep Rai Sharma has proposed various measures to solve the water crisis problems of Andaman & Nicobar Islands in a planned and time bound manner.

In a letter addressed to the Hon’ble Lt. Governor, Andaman & Nicobar Islands he highlighted the severe water crisis faced by the people of Andaman & Nicobar Islands every year from January to May.

He said that the water crisis has been continuing for the last several years, and every year we find A&N Administration adopting certain temporary and short term measures to mitigate the water crisis. But, as soon as the monsoon arrives, these temporary and short term measures are put to end and similar situations are faced in the subsequent years. This is the reason why despite our Islands receiving an annual rainfall of about 3000mm, the Islanders face water scarcity throughout the year and it becomes severe particularly from January to May every year if the monsoons are weak or delayed.

He mentioned that during his recent visit to the Panighat the people of Panighat, who come under the Hopetown Panchayat, have informed him that although they have a huge water body nearby, they have been getting water supply only once in every seven days. This has made their lives extremely difficult, and they are struggling to meet their daily water needs. This situation is being faced by many other villages across Andaman.

To solve this problem forever, the Member of Parliament has suggested the following measures:

Formulate a water policy for Andaman and Nicobar Islands that deals with the water situation of all the islands and solves the problem within. We have sufficient water sources, but due to the absence of a water policy, we are unable to tap these resources and provide sufficient water to the people of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. With experts and PRI members and prominent citizens on board, we can formulate a water policy that caters to the needs of all.

Start Stage-II of the Rutland Water Supply Project. Currently five perennial sources of water have been tapped, providing 6.60 MLD of water, which is transported to Pongi Balu through a 300 mm dia submarine pipeline. However, there are an additional five untapped perennial water sources on the western side of Rutland Island and five untapped perennial sources of water on the eastern side of Rutland Island. When tapped, these sources will provide an additional discharge of 6.0 MLD and 10 MLD of water, respectively, augmenting the available water from 6.60 MLD to 22.60 MLD. The completion of the proposed project will help slay the water demand of Port Blair city during the summer months from January to May every year and make available the required quantity of water to the general public, preventing the situation of water curtailment in the coming 15-20 years.

Complete the Flat Bay Water Project. The proposed construction of a Bridge-cum-Dam between Minnie Bay and Mithakhadi area of South Andaman region, known as the Flat Bay Water Project, will provide a vast catchment area of freshwater that can yield up to 64 MLD per day of water, meeting the growing demand of the island's tourism industry as well and will serve as long term measure to mitigate the water crisis of South Andaman which has maximum demand of fresh water.

Install desalination plants for Port Blair and the South Andaman region. Desalination plants have been successfully implemented in many countries around the world to combat water shortages. The installation of a desalination plant would not only provide fresh water to the people but would also be a medium term solution to the water crisis.

Utilize Sippighat Sweetwater lake to store flowing water from Dhanikhari Dam and reuse the same. This Sweetwater lake will also work as a catchment area and ensure a positive supply of water to the entire South Andaman region.

Construct a dam at Pranashala area of Rangat Middle Andaman, which can provide drinking water to at least 6 to 7 Panchayats around the Rangat region and thousands of people.

Construct a dam at Khudirampur, Diglipur which will solve the water problem of the Diglipur area.

Dredge or desilt DhaniKhari Dam to augment its dead storage capacity and ensure that it can store more water.