Paradox In Paradise

Andaman Eden is a tropical island. Palm-fronded beaches, mangroves, clear blue sea, magical sunsets. Paradise also throws up paradoxes. Like, the irony in Coleridge바카라�s devil-and-the-deep-sea line from the Ancient Mariner could not be more stark for the 500,000 people living in the Andaman atoll바카라�바카라�Water, water, every where,/Nor any drop to drink.바카라�

The island of Andaman바카라�yes, the one that has Port Blair and Cellular 바카라�Kalapani바카라� Jail at its centerpiece, depends on rainwater, harvested and stored mainly in Dhanikhari reservoir, to feed its burgeoning population. The islanders say freshwater has been a luxury for them of late. Water rationing is commonplace and conservation is priority. But it has been unusually painful this year as the northeast monsoon betrayed the region, again. The seasonal rain-bearer replenishes Dhanikhari and smaller water bodies between November and March. Rainfall has been poor and all reservoirs are running low, so much so that the Union territory바카라�s residents are getting only half-an-hour of water supply once in four days.

It hasn바카라�t rained since last December, says V. Candavelou, commissioner-cum-secretary (PWD) for the islands. 바카라�The water crisis has reached a breaking point.바카라� In fact, precipitation from December to mid-April ranged a lowly 399 mm to 646 mm in the past three years (2016-to 2019). Effectively, it바카라�s raining a drought. And it couldn바카라�t have come at a more inopportune time. Much like the rest of the world, the islanders are battling the coronavirus pandemic바카라�the count on April 21 for Andaman and Nicobar Islands was 16 positive cases. But with limited water, people are forced to wash their hands off the most important chore to keep the infection on a leash. 바카라�Who will keep washing their hands with soap frequently when there바카라�s barely enough water to drink and for the cooking?바카라� asks a woman in Port Blair, speaking almost for everybody. The sea is off-limits too because of the national stay-at-home order.

Parliamentarian Kuldeep Rai Sharma of Andaman sounds alarmist when he calls the water crisis a 바카라�ticking time bomb바카라�, but he has a point. Population has grown manifold since the 1970s, and old Dhanikhari remained the sole source of freshwater. 바카라�The current problem is due to the fickle monsoon. But tomorrow, if something happens to the dam, the people will not get a drop to drink. Remember, the islands sit on a highly seismic zone,바카라� Sharma says as he requests the Centre to fast-pace plans for alternative water sources, rather than letting the people wing it with an old dam that also turns the island바카라�s hydroelectric turbines.

Hope sits southward바카라�on Rutland, an island 23km from Port Blair. Experts say there바카라�s a freshwater source on that island. Sharma wrote on April 4 to lieutenant governor Admiral D.K. Joshi about the water crisis and made a pitch for transporting water from Rutland. His letter included an alert on the impact water shortage will have on hydro-power generation, the primary source of electricity. 바카라�We must build more dams and tap rainwater. Our weakness will become our strength,바카라� he stressed.

Joshi acknowledged the double whammy바카라�COVID-19 and water scarcity바카라�and suggested that 바카라�judicious use of water is the only solution바카라� since new projects will take time. Until then, the islanders can turn to Coleridge바카라�s Mariner again: 바카라�And when I awoke, it rained.바카라�