The minister drew flak from the public and social media for his failed experiment with the thermocol sheets washing ashore in the strong wind.
To prevent loss of water due to evaporation, Tamil Nadu minister Sellur K Raju came out with an ingenious idea of floating thermocol sheets on the water surface of Vagai dam that caters to the drinking water needs of Madurai district. However, the move turned out to be a damp squib.
The minister drew flak from the public and social media for his failed experiment with the thermocol sheets washing ashore in the strong wind. Scribes were taken to the dam from Madurai which was located 67 kms away to demonstrate the breakthrough technique to reduce water evaporation.
As the cooperative minister Raju picked up a few sheets to place them over the waterbody, high wind blew the sheets away. Undeterred by it, the minister directed the PWD officials to spread the sheets deep in the water using a coracle. Wind washed them ashore within a few minutes leaving the minister and other officials red faced.
Raju said that as the state is reeling under one of the worst droughts in the last 140 years, the government is taking every step possible to conserve water. The method of spreading thermocol sheets over the water surface on Vaigai dam was a pilot project to reduce evaporation, he said.He further added that such projects were done in foreign countries. The project was allotted Rs 10 lakh.
After questions were raised on wasting public money for such a project, the minister on Saturday said only Rs 8,000 was spent. "We are planning to use plastic balls and plastic sheets to reduce evaporation on trial basis. The dam which is spread across 250 acres has water in 60 acres. And we are planning to cover two acres," he said.
Pointing out that 1.2 million cubic feet of water has been getting lost daily due to evaporation, Madurai district collector K Veera Raghava Rao said that the water availability in the dam was only 162 mcft as on Friday, and six mcft water was being drawn daily to meet drinking water needs.
To reduce water evaporation, a Chennai Metro Water official told DNA they had tried integrated operation of reservoirs, application of chemical and compartmentalisation in the Poondi, Cholavaram and Red Hills reservoirs that supplies drinking water to Chennai city.
He added though use of chemical was effective, it was not cost effective. "Long term solution is creating a deeper part of reservoir to reduce the water surface and thereby rate of evaporation too," the official said.
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 "Tamil Nadu cooperative minister Sellur K Raju at Vagai dam")
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