ANALYSIS OF FACTORS CAUSING DAY ZERO AND PROBLEMS IN WATER GOVERNANCE USING SNS DATA IN CHENNAI, INDIA

As reported in Cape Town in 2018, the rapid population growth in urban areas has made the municipal water security more fragile especially in developing countries. The urban aggromeration of Chennai, India, experienced a severe drought in June 2019 called ‘Day Zeo’, literally meaning no municipal water supply. This study aimed to find the causes of Day Zero and the fraws and deficiency of water governance in Chennai. The population in Chennai has tripled since the 1960s, which has caused chronic shortages of water supply. Although the annual precipitation of 2019 was close to the average, the 18-month Standardized Precipitation Index (SPI-18) in June 2019 showed a severe dryness that may occur once in 20 years. In addition, the late arrival of the Southwest monsoon was also a cause of Day Zero. To evaluate water governance both qualitatively and quantitatively from the citizens’ viewpoints, SNS data such as tweets and Google trend were analyzed. It was found that the citizens were aware of the water crisis well before the news reports or official warnings of water depletion in the four reservoirs in Chennai. It was also found that, in India, people are more interested in quantity of water rather than quality, and that people in Chennai feel unsatisfied with water services and constantly expressed complaints on distribution systems. Also, citizens are well aware of repeated water crisis in summer. These problems in water governance raised by the citizens were in agreement with those suggested by Japan International Cooporation Agency. The results of this study presented the potential of SNS analysis for a better cooporation between citizens and water supply agencies, which may lead to the improvement of water governance and avoidance or alleviation of water shortages in Chennnai and other mega cities.