In a concerted effort towards making Chennai water resilient, the city of 1,000 tanks, a strategy to improve water availability and develop holistic solutions to reduce wastage, was launched in the city on Wednesday.
A consortium of experts from various fields will develop a water balance model to collect rainwater and treat wastewater with nature based solutions to improve groundwater recharge. A pilot project has been started at Little Flower Convent Higher Secondary School and will be extended to various flagship projects in Chennai.
The City of 1,000 Tanks will bring together a team of different organizations – Netherlands-based OOZE Architects and Urbanists as the lead and the Goethe Institute, Madras Terrace Architectural Works, Care Earth Trust, IIT-Madras, Rain Centre, Biometrics Water, Pepperman Foundation and Information and resource center for disadvantaged urban communities and the Uravugal Social Welfare Trust.
On the vision, Sudheendra NK of Madras Terrace Architectural Works said the concept was to improve the groundwater table and make Chennai a green city. Despite substantial annual rainfall, the city faced drought, flooding and sanitation issues, he said, adding that unplanned urbanization was one of the reasons.
The ongoing pilot project at the Little Flower Convent will demonstrate the balanced use of water. Apart from rainwater harvesting measures, waste water collected in open space will be treated using wetlands constructed with cane. The reclaimed water will be collected for non-potable reuse and groundwater recharge. He said that the school would benefit from about 25,000 liters of water per day.
The consortium is also in talks with the government to scale up major projects in the city. Eva Puffnes, co-founder of OOZE Architects and Urbanists, highlighted the Mylapore Flagship Project, which would have created Wetlands, Bioswales and Detention Park as its key elements. The historic temple tanks will be restored for better groundwater recharge and creation of better urban space.
The city has 53 such historic tanks with a recharge capacity of 50 million liters per day and projects that can be replicated. He also spoke about the friendly public housing program in Chitra Nagar.
Henk Owink, Special Envoy for International Water Affairs, Government of the Netherlands noted that the city of 1,000 tanks was established through water as leverage for resilient cities. Asia and Chennai were chosen because of the combination of challenges and opportunities to bring about change.
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