Childhood spent fetching water in pots; MG Rajamanickyam earns doctorate after decade-long research

Thiruvananthapuram: Childhood memories of queuing for a single pot of water in a drought-prone village near Madurai inspired M.G. Rajamanickyam's lifelong interest in water resource management. Years later, while serving as Ernakulam District Collector, an unexpected discovery during an investigation into a drinking water issue further shaped that passion.

Now the Chairman of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), Rajamanickyam has been awarded a doctorate by the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) after 10 years of research. His doctoral thesis proposes a comprehensive water policy for Kerala.

Rajamanickyam was born in Thiruvathavoor, a severely water-scarce region near Madurai, where he learnt the value of water from an early age. Every evening at around 8 pm, a member of his family would stand in a queue with a pot to collect water from a public tap. Each household was allowed only one pot so that others could also receive their share. That single pot had to meet all the family's daily needs, despite the water itself not being fit for consumption.

A turning point in his research journey came in 2014 during the implementation of the Ente Kulam Ernakulam project, when he was serving as Ernakulam District Collector. While inspecting water sources in Keezhmad panchayat, he noticed an unusually high incidence of thyroid disorders among local residents.

Routine water quality tests did not reveal any abnormalities. However, a detailed analysis conducted by an expert team from CUSAT detected the presence of ammonium perchlorate in the water.

The discovery prompted Dr Chandramohan Kumar, then Head of the Department of Marine Science and Chemical Oceanography at CUSAT and a member of the expert team, to encourage Rajamanickyam to pursue research into water-related issues.

He subsequently enrolled for a PhD at CUSAT under the guidance of Dr Chandramohan Kumar, with Assistant Professor C.S. Ratheesh Kumar serving as co-supervisor.

His research initially focused on drinking water quality but later expanded to water policy and integrated water resource management. To strengthen his academic work, Rajamanickyam completed a postgraduate programme in water policy at King's College London in 2018. He later spent a year at Cornell University in the United States studying water resource management as a Humphrey Fellow.

His wife, R. Nishanthini, currently Inspector General of Police (Intelligence), accompanied him to the US, where she completed a postgraduate degree in International Child Studies.

Rajamanickyam previously served as the State Executive Director of the JalNidhi project during 2012–13. He currently serves as Secretary to the departments of Energy, Environment, Devaswom and Parliamentary Affairs, in addition to his role as Chairman of KSEB.