Feature
Chennai struggling for water crisis, four main reservoirs dried
Chennai: The temperature is rising day by day and Chennai is staring at an alarming water crisis. Officials are struggling for a solution to fast depleting sources of water.Tamil Nadu is witnessing the worst drought in 140 years and require 830 million litres of water a day.
A drop in levels at Andhra Pradesh’s Kandaleru reservoir is a particular source of worry. Supply of Krishna river water from the Kandaleru reservoir via the Poondi reservoir -that the city is now mostly dependent on -has dropped from 400 cusecs (11,300 litres per second) to 120 cusecs (3,400 litres per second) over two weeks.
This has resulted in shortage of drinking water supply in most parts of the city , barring core areas like Triplicane, Royapettah, Kotturpuram, Nungambakkam and Anna Nagar.
The city’s four main reservoirs, at Poondi, Red Hills, Cholavaram and Chembarambakkam, are dry or drying up fast.They currently hold 1.7tmcft, as compared to 8tmcft at the same time last year. Three reservoirs, barring Poondi, have run almost dry and Metrowater officials estimate water in the dams to last till April. The city requires 1,100MLD (million litres of water a day) but sup ply has now dropped to 550MLD.
The dead storage in Cho lavaram is under threat of evaporation and officials are pumping water from the Poondi reservoir to Chembarambakkam and Red Hills for supply to the city.
“The storage in Cholavaram is estimated to last another 15 days,” a Metrowater official said. “As the water level has reached dead storage, gravitational force cannot move water to the Red Hills reservoir nearby.”
When former chief minister O Panneerselvam wrote to his Andhra Pradesh counterpart on January 5, water level in the Kandaleru reservoir was 13.56tmcft (thousand million cubic feet). The current level in the reservoir has fallen below 8tmcft, compared to 31tmcft at the same time last year.
The Andhra Pradesh government has so far supplied the city 2.2tmcft water since January 20. One tmcft is equivalent to a month’s supply in the city.
The Kandaleru reservoir discharges 1,500-2,000 cusecs (42,500litres-56,000litres per second) per day. Of this, Chennai had received around 400 cusecs daily till two weeks ago, before it fell to 120 cusecs on Friday.
“Krishna water inflow has “Krishna water inflow has reduced due to the fall in the Kandaleru reservoir levels,” a PWD official at the Poondi reservoir said. The officials are not certain when the inflow will pick up.
Metrowater will soon have to turn to alternate sources, draw around 180MLD through wells in the Paravanar riverbed, the Neyveli basin and agricultural fields in Poondi and Tamaraipakkam in Tiruvallur. The city will continue to receive 100 MLD each from the desalination plants at Nemmeli and Minjur.
The State Scores Extra High on Gaming-Friendly Industry Index
Meghalaya scored 92.85 out of 100 possible points in a Gaming Industry Index and proved to be India’s most gaming-friendly state following its recent profound legislation changes over the field allowing land-based and online gaming, including games of chance, under a licensing regime.
The index by the UK India Business Council (UKIBC) uses a scale of 0 to 100 to measure the level of legalisation on gambling and betting achieved by a state based on the scores over a set of seven different games – lottery, horse racing, betting on sports, poker, rummy, casino and fantasy sports
Starting from February last year, Meghalaya became the third state in India’s northeast to legalise gambling and betting after Sikkim and Nagaland. After consultations with the UKIBC, the state proceeded with the adoption of the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Act, 2021 and the nullification of the Meghalaya Prevention of Gambling Act, 1970. Subsequently in December, the Meghalaya Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021 were notified and came into force.
All for the Tourists
The move to legalise and license various forms of offline and online betting and gambling in Meghalaya is aimed at boosting tourism and creating jobs, and altogether raising taxation revenues for the northeastern state. At the same time, the opportunities to bet and gamble legally will be reserved only for tourists and visitors.
“We came out with a Gaming Act and subsequently framed the Regulation of Gaming Rules, 2021. The government will accordingly issue licenses to operate games of skill and chance, both online and offline,” said James P. K. Sangma, Meghalaya State Law and Taxation Minister speaking in the capital city of Shillong. “But the legalized gambling and gaming will only be for tourists and not residents of Meghalaya,” he continued.
To be allowed to play, tourists and people visiting the state for work or business purposes will have to prove their non-resident status by presenting appropriate documents, in a process similar to a bank KYC (Know Your Customer) procedure.
Meghalaya Reaches Out to a Vast Market
With 140 millions of people in India estimated to bet regularly on sports, and a total of 370 million desi bettors around prominent sporting events, as per data from one of the latest reports by Esse N Videri, Meghalaya is set to reach out and take a piece of a vast market.
Estimates on the financial value of India’s sports betting market, combined across all types of offline channels and online sports and cricket predictions and betting platforms, speak about amounts between $130 and $150 billion (roughly between ₹9.7 and ₹11.5 lakh crore).
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Delhi are shown to deliver the highest number of bettors and Meghalaya can count on substantial tourists flow from their betting circles. The sports betting communities of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are also not to be underestimated.
Among the sports, cricket is most popular, registering 68 percent of the total bet count analyzed by Esse N Videri. Football takes second position with 11 percent of the bets, followed by betting on FIFA at 7 percent and on eCricket at 5 percent. The last position in the Top 5 of popular sports for betting in India is taken by tennis with 3 percent of the bet count.
Local Citizens will Still have Their Teer Betting
Meghalaya residents will still be permitted to participate in teer betting over arrow-shooting results. Teer is a traditional method of gambling, somewhat similar to a lottery draw, and held under the rules of the Meghalaya Regulation of the Game of Arrow Shooting and the Sale of Teer Tickets Act, 2018.
Teer includes bettors wagering on the number of arrows that reach the target which is placed about 50 meters away from a team of 20 archers positioned in a semicircle.
The archers shoot volleys of arrows at the target for ten minutes, and players place their bets choosing a number between 0 and 99 trying to guess the last two digits of the number of arrows that successfully pierce the target.
If, for example, the number of hits is 256, anyone who has bet on 56 wins an amount eight times bigger than their wager.
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