Sri Vijaya Puram, June 9: The arrival of the southwest monsoon has brought significant relief to residents across the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, with rising reservoir levels—particularly at the Dhanikhari Dam—prompting the Administration to prepare for the restoration of normal water supply in the Sri Vijaya Puram Municipal Council (SVPMC) area.
The improvement comes after months of water conservation measures, supply management, and emergency augmentation projects undertaken to address declining reservoir levels caused by an extended dry spell.
According to the Administration, the onset of monsoon rains has substantially improved water availability in key reservoirs, easing pressure on the island’s primary drinking water sources and reducing the risk of prolonged shortages.
Officials said the recent recovery in storage levels is the result of both favourable rainfall and extensive preparatory work carried out during the water crisis to ensure uninterrupted access to drinking water.
When rainfall remained below expectations and reservoir levels began declining earlier this year, authorities launched a coordinated response involving multiple departments. The strategy focused on identifying alternative water sources and strengthening existing infrastructure to augment supply across urban and rural areas.
As part of these efforts, several new sources were developed, including borewells, ponds, ring wells, reservoirs and weirs. Together, these interventions generated an additional 15.08 million litres per day (MLD) of water.
The augmentation included the commissioning of Rutland Phase-I and Phase-II projects, along with the development of 13 ponds, seven weirs, ten ring wells, five reservoirs and seven borewells spread across different parts of the islands.
Officials said these projects played a crucial role in maintaining essential water supplies during the most challenging phase of the shortage.
The Administration also adopted a closely monitored approach to water management. Weekly reviews of reservoir conditions and supply levels were conducted by senior officials, including the Chief Secretary and Commissioner-cum-Secretary (PWD), who regularly assessed the situation and issued directions to ensure equitable distribution of available resources.
Water rationing schedules were implemented in affected areas to maintain minimum essential supply while minimizing inconvenience to consumers.
Deputy Commissioners of South Andaman, North and Middle Andaman, and Nicobar districts were also actively involved in monitoring the situation. Their role included facilitating the identification and allocation of land required for location-specific water augmentation works and supporting implementation at the field level.
Officials noted that these coordinated efforts helped reduce the impact of the water shortage and ensured that drinking water continued to reach households despite declining reservoir reserves.
Alongside infrastructure interventions, the Administration launched extensive public awareness campaigns to promote responsible water use.
The Andaman Public Works Department (APWD) and the Sri Vijaya Puram Municipal Council organized water conservation drives through schools, rallies, community discussions, awareness programmes and public outreach initiatives.
Authorities credited residents and institutions for responding positively to these campaigns, stating that public cooperation significantly contributed to reducing water consumption during the crisis period.
Several long-term projects were also initiated to strengthen water security and reduce reliance on tanker supply systems.
These include the construction of five additional borewells, three check weirs and two ring wells, as well as the enhancement of reservoir catchment areas. Desilting work carried out at Sona Pahad Dam also improved storage capacity.
According to the Administration, these measures are expected to augment water availability in South Andaman by approximately 168.75 million litres upon completion.
Officials believe the projects will improve resilience against future dry spells and help create a more sustainable water supply system for the growing population.
With the Dhanikhari Dam now receiving substantial inflows from monsoon rains, authorities anticipate further improvement in reservoir storage levels over the coming weeks.
As a result, normal water supply in the municipal area is proposed to be restored shortly, ending months of restrictions that had required careful management of available resources.
The Administration said it would continue to monitor rainfall patterns, reservoir levels and consumption trends to ensure that water availability remains stable throughout the monsoon season and beyond.
While welcoming the relief brought by the rains, officials stressed that water conservation remains important and urged residents to continue using water judiciously.
The recent experience, they noted, highlighted both the vulnerability of island water resources to changing weather conditions and the importance of investing in long-term infrastructure and conservation measures to secure future supplies.
