Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has emphasised the need for using latest technologies for water conservation and wastewater treatment in the State.
Several parts of the State are facing acute drinking water scarcity and clean and safe water is becoming a scarce commodity. This can be addressed with proper technologies, he said.
The Chief Minister was inaugurating the second Indian-German Water Partnership Summit on the subject ‘German Solutions to Indian Challenges’ here on Monday.
He said water scarcity in several coastal areas can be addressed by implementing cost-effective and location-specific desalination plants. The Chief Minister was also of the view that treatment of wastewater needs special attention by using appropriate technologies.
Kerala, with the maximum domestic well density in the world, has around 46 lakh open wells. The State government in its effort to rejuvenate this vital drinking resource has initiated steps to recharge the wells with rainwater.
Though Kerala is receiving an annual average rainfall of three meters every year, due to its topography, 95 per cent of the rainwater is flowing into the sea. Considering this, the government has formulated several schemes for construction of check dams over rivers, streams and canals for water conservation.
The summit was organised in association with SCMS School of Engineering and Technology and Kochi Corporation.