The papers presented in this Workshop address various water issues at the macro and nicrolevels. They call for both individual and collective action for the conservation of water resources. There is emphasis on the need to ensure water quality for sustained human use including replenishement of denuded forests and restoration of soil health. Large number of case histories have been cited providing moral lessons for emulation at the local levels so that such actions build up into a global movement for judicious water use and management.
The message of the famous Kanyakumari March of 1989 to protect life by protecting water is relevant to all times and locations, particularly in regions of high population density as the Kanyakumari district. The suggested measures include dry compost toilets, watersheds, low cost reverse osmosis systems, regulation of groundwater extraction and family planning. There is need for an equitable balance in resource access and rights between coastal communities and the industrial sector (John Kurien). The recent finding of the occurrence of fluorosis at Alagappapuram in Kanyakumari district calls for immediate remediation as otherwise it may grow up to assume alarming scales as in West Bengal and Bangladesh (Sathyanesan).
The problems of managing water availability and use in highly populated areas have been highlihted through separate case studies and critical analyses of historical and geographical data pertaining to kanyakumari district (Raj; Vareethiah Konstantine: Lal Mohan). The need for a comprehensive water use policy for sustainable water use and remedial measures required have been highlighted well for the Kanyakumari district (Vareethiah Konstantine; Vareethiah Konstantine and Raj). The global water perspectives, water budget and uses have been analysed in detail in the context fot the same set of problems prevailing in a smaller geographical area as the Kanyakumari district (Lal Mohan). The methodoglogy of water treatment for safe water supply and use has been outlined as a guide to community education and adoption (Oscar Fredy; Narayanan).
The undisputed need for the immediate renovation and completion of the A.V.M. Canal to promote tourism, inland transportation and recharge of groundwater, and to check seawater intrusion has been amply emphasised (Isaac Jayadhas; Vareethiah Konstantine). Villagewise analysis of the water problems in Kanyakumari district and the recommended solutions (Rajeenald) form a good model for similar investigations in other districts. Models and experiences from watershed development and management amply prove them to be important tools to conserve rainwater, recharge the groundwater and green up the parched landscapes (Vareethiah Konstantine, Alexander and Thrasiakutty). The Pulluvila (Kerala) case study of the failure of wet toilets paving the way for alternatives such as compost toilet, Provides a viable model for all Indian villages in dealing with the problems of open lartrines (Leenamma Jose). The scourge of filariasis in Kanyakumari district has been investigated in detail and the prophylactic and therapeutic measures in vogue clearly outlined (Soosai Marian).
While listing the 13 non permissible and two permissible activities in the Coastal Regulation Zone, the additional locations that need to be included in CRZ I and II categories in Kanyakumari district have been identified (Lazarus). The general classification of estuaries and their dynamics, although with little reference to kanyakumari district, provide useful information which could be applied to similar problem areas (Selvaraj). The experience gained in afforesting estuaries with mangroves in kanyakumari district is worth replication on a larger scale to help shrimp aquaculture potentila of kanyakumari district to generate income and employment (Premjith). The damages caused by uncontrolled sandmining in riverbeds at Thengapattanam need to be minimised through appropriate planning (Vareethiah Konstantine, Sureshkumar and Annie John). Fishing paractics and habits of the fishing community of Kanyakumari district constitute distinct socioeconnomic and cultural entities in a milieu that is characterised by resources and overcrowding (Vivekanandan).
The irony of information explosion on the one hand and its poor percolation among the rural masses on the other need to be tackled on an intensive scale for the amelioration of the poor (Joseph Justus). Proper learning techniques to propagate and facilitate adoption of good and optimum water conservation and use practices have been described with vivid illustrations (Jezer Jebanesan).
The important recommendation which have emerged from the deliberations of the Workshop include steps for sustained supply of drinking water, creation of a coastal link canal, declaration of AVM Canal as a National Waterway, banning of unregulated sandmining from riverbeds, development of watersheds, promotion of compost toilet, introduction of rainwater harvest system, study of impacts of rare earth mining, further extension of the irrigation to kalkulam and vilavancode taluks and launching a water Awareness Movement, all within the Coastal Interactional Area of the kanyakumari district.
The Workshop provides a good platform to focus attention on the many related water issues and to bring together in one proceedings all the vital information on water resources. The Workshop and the Proceedings could be used as models for similar exercise in all the districts in the country. The participants, obviously have been quite enthusiastic about the Workshop agenda, and seem to have accomplished a good task and hence deserve to be complimented.
Chennai,
M. Devaraj.
Dated 30 December, 1999.
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