Aquifers

Try to imagine a life without water. Just think of your morning routine: you drink water from your filter or tap, you flush your toilet, take a shower and brush your teeth.

On May 6th, the Auroville Forest Group, which was constituted by the RA in 1982 and which is endorsed in the Auroville Universal Township Master Plan – Perspective 2025, circulated an email reiterating its commitment to nurture and protect the green spaces and provide an integrated ecological basis for Auroville, physically and spiritually.

Issued by two members of the International Advisory Council and supported by eight International personalities

The year 2021 was the wettest in a hundred years and the first aquifer below Auroville filled up, with unexpected consequences. To understand what is happening and what is likely to happen in the future, we talked to Aurovilian Giulio, a geo-archaeologist, who works for the Geomatics department of Auroville’s Centre of Scientific Research

In an article first published on Auronet, Rishi Walker identifies the causes and possible responses to the present urgent water situation in Auroville.

“Dear Community, this is to inform you of the water scarcity that Auroville is facing. And though there is still water flowing from our taps, it is important to know that many of our supply wells are showing depleted levels, some are already dry.

In the months of July and August, Auroville benefitted from unexpected rains. In July 153 mm fell, against an average of 73.1= for the last 39 years.

Tamil Nadu and many other parts of India are currently facing an unprecedented drought. This message was formally delivered by the Chief Minister on January 10th, 2017, declaring Tamil Nadu a drought-hit state.

More than a year ago, in its June-July issue 2015, Auroville Today examined the challenges of meeting the city’s future water requirements. One option, that of providing desalinated water, is actively being pursued by Varuna Pvt.

Auroville Today met with four local farmers who irrigate their land in the area of Kuilapalayam. Arivasu’s main crop is cashew, but he irrigates coconut trees.

Tom worked for many years in Auroville Water Service and later set up Harvest, an Auroville data collection and water management organization that did much work in the bioregion.

Toby, former director of a public water company supplying water to a province of the Netherlands, is executive ofthe Auroville Water Service.

Michael Bonke is a long-time friend of Auroville who has been instrumental in initiating and funding major projects in the community. One of the aims of Varuna, a company he set up and runs with a team of Aurovilians, is “to build and operate a small desalination plant which can supply water to Auroville, for the future Matrimandir Lake and the nearby villages”.

Planning a town for 50,000 inhabitants implies that studies have to be made into the possibilities of water supply. Tency outlines some of the measures that need to be taken now if we are to have adequate and potable water in the future.