Tamil Nadu minister's idea: Float thermocol sheets to prevent evaporation

Tamil Nadu is reeling under a severe drought and the minister tried this idea to prevent water loss

Comedy of errors: You must have heard of 'chasing chickens'. But this minister of Tamil Nadu spent a day chasing 'thermocol' sheets with a 'grand plan' in mind to save the state from drought woes. In a haphazard attempt to resolve Tamil Nadu's dry spell curse, the state's Co-operatives Minister Sellur K Raju, came up with this solution.

Inviting a host of journalists to show off his innovation, K Raju said that the plan was to cover the entire water surface with sheets of thermocol taped together to prevent evaporation from the Vaigai Dam. K Raju, his party cadre and officials crowded the waterside and enthusiatically picked up a few sheets. He tried to place them over the water only to see them wash away due to high velocity wind in the dam.

Undeterred, the minister entered the water to place the sheets back, some of which had shredded into pieces. To his dismay, those too blew away. 

The minister said that as the region is experiencing one of the worst droughts in 142 years, every attempt is being made to conserve water. The method of using thermocol sheets to reduce evaporation has been tried in foreign countries and private water bodies, he said, while adding that Rs 10 lakh has been set aside for the project.

Defending the initiative, Madurai collector K Veera Raghava Rao said that it was carried out on an experimental basis. "Only after experimenting we will know if these methods could indeed prevent evaporation loss. All factors like wind velocity, size of sheets and their ability to arrest evaporation will be studied in the project," said Rao. The collector added that plastic balls and plates will also be tried out for the purpose.

When questioned if the use of thermocol, which is made of expanded polystyrene beads, could lead to water pollution and affect marine species, the collector said that they had used "a limited number of thermocol sheets and they could be retrieved."

Not only was the scheme a complete failure, it irked journalists who had travelled all the way from Madurai to witness it.

While, there was nothing wrong with the "method", it was the implementation that was a complete disaster. 

Study says use of thermocol sheet as floating cover could reduce evaporation loss in farm pond. According to ResearchGate, researchers selected Devergaon village in Niphad tehsil of Nasik  district, Maharashtra to study the effects as the area receives scanty rainfall. The months of March, April and May were selected for observation. Researchers were able to save 32 per cent of water by this technique. Due to thunderstorm sheets were broken but the effect of floating cover still remained and saving of water continued.