Save water today for a better tommorrow    Save the islands     Stop Ground water pumping     Today's Wasting drops could make the islands uninhabitable  let our coming genarations to live in this paradise islands

Objectives The water available in this tiny islands is saline . The main objective  to provide safe drinking water to the inhabitants of Lakshadweep islands. 

 Status:The availability of fresh water is limited.  Therefore combined System consisting of Ground water, Rainwater harvesting and R.O. Desalination is adopted in these islands.

a) Total requirement per day (considering 55lpcd) 33,32,725liters

b) Quantity supplied per day                                      3,03,550 Liters

c) Deficit per day                                                      30,29,175 Liters

  Ground water :

Lakshadweep Administration prepared water supply scheme to this Territory for the  extraction  of ground water through collector wells. The scheme envisages extraction of       ground water through radial perforated pipes of 5m length located at specified shallow depth. The ground water flows under gravity through these pipes and collect in a collector well. This checks excessive draw in two ways.

I.The extraction is not from a particular point, but extraction along with the length of radial pipes so that the amount of draw gets distributed for a diameter of 16 metres.

II.       In no case the water below a predecided level will be collected since the inflow is only through  perforated pipe. The bottom of the wells is sealed with concrete; as such it does not allow seepage of water from the bottom.

Method followed:-

There are 4 to 6 such collector wells in each island. These wells are selected at sites where quality of water is good and thickness of sweet water lens is maximum. Water from these collector wells is pumped intermittently to the collection sump. Extraction of water from each well is done for half an hour and then stopped for an interval of 2 ½ hours to allow time to interface to subside. After chlorination, the water is pumped from the collection sump to the overhead water tanks. The water is supplied through standposts on the streets. ie street taps

A Central Team headed by Shri Mohammed Inamul Haque , Adviser, Technology Mission, Department of Rural Development, Government of India along with experts from Central Ground Water Board, Central Salt and Marine Chemical Research Institute, Bhavanagar, National Environmental Engineering Research Institute and Center, for Earth Science Studies visited the islands in June 1988 came to the conclusion that no single system of approach to provide water supply to these islands would be sufficient due to typical geological and hydro geological nature of these islands. This team of experts was of the opinion that the right approach to solve the problem of drinking water in these islands can consists of three elements as follows.

a)   Use the ground water to the extent available, the exact quantity which can be extracted without danger of salinity to be determined by a detailed island wise study to be conducted by Center for Earth Science Studies.

b)        Wherever the ground water is not adequate to provide water to the entire population, this has to be supplemented by Desalination of brackish water through Reverse Osmosis Plants.

c)         Recognising the value of the water as a scarce resource on the islands, it was decided to optimize the availability of the resource by encouraging rain water harvesting so that atleast some of the water which otherwise is wasted could be utilized for part of the year.

Water received from the above sources is distributed through a common network of underground pipes and public stand posts. The system is managed by local Panchayaths.

Rain Water Harvesting:

 The Rain Water collection is the most suitable and adoptable method to make up the short falls. Therefore, we have started collection of rain water utilizing the roof tops of the buildings as catchments area. Individual storage tanks of various capacities ranging from 5 to 10 thousand liters, in some cases even up to 50 thousand liters, are constructed attached to each Government quarters, non residential buildings and private houses. The water collected in the eve gutter from the roof tops is made to flow to the collection tank through a filter so that suspended particles are got removed. Then the water is chlorinated using bleaching powder. Since the collection tanks are attached to each house, it is easy to maintain because the householder can take up normal maintenance. Operation related to the pumping and distribution of water is entrusted with the respective Village (Dweep) panchayats in respect of water collected in community RWT in Hospitals, Schools etc.

By utilizing the roof tops of public buildings, such as schools, we have also introduced Community Rain Water Harvesting System. Here also, the water is got filtered chlorinated using bleaching powder in a centralized filter and then pumped to the over head tanks for distribution along with the water collected from other sources such as ground water, desalination plants etc.

Merits:

1.There are no environmental hazards and actually it is environment friendly.

2.Reduces pumping which helps to dilute the salinity of ground water.

3.No power consumption or operational cost is involvedin respect of individual RWTs.

4.Seawater intrusion in to the land is arrested.

5.Construction Technology and Cost involved is less compared to other systems.

Statistics:

There are 2Nos Community Rain water harvesting system one each at Kavaratti and at Minicoy. In addition to this there is individual RWH tanks.As on today we have created infrastructure for Rain Water Harvesting to an extent of 11.092 Million Liters.

                                    Rain water Tanks constructed

S.No     Islands     Govt.Buildings     Private Houses       Total

1         Agatti           56                    278                      334

2         Kavaratti     300                      90                      390

3         Andrott          8                      13                        21

4         Kalpeni         51                      46                        97

5         Minicoy       206                    146                       352

6         Amini           60                      80                       140

7        Kadmat         24                      50                         74

8        Kiltan             8                    167                        175

9       Chetlat          24                    107                        131

10      Bitra             12                     60                          72

        Total            744                  1035                       1786

 Ground water Quality monitoring There are 9 Nos Water Quality Testing Laboratory installed one in each island . The Lab is monitoring quality of water from selected wells in each island and the local Public Health authorities are kept informed.  Salinity is the main hazard.                             

  R.O.Plants:- Ten Brackish water R.O Desalination plants are installed at different islands.

Distribution System:     

Number of Street taps Provided is as follows

  It is proposed to provide Sea water R.O.desalination plants of required capacity in each islands to meet the short fall. 

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