CHENNAI : As rainfall continues to cheat Chennai, a potential water crisis looms large over the City. Decreasing water levels in all four major reservoirs are a cause of concern for the city's drinking water supply as three of them have neared the dead storage capacity.The current combined capacity of Poondi, Cholavaram, and Chembarambakkam is a mere seven percent of their total capacity.
According to Metro Water data as of Monday, combined levels of the three tanks stands at 599Mcft against their total capacity of 7957Mcft. On the same day last year, the combined capacity of four reservoirs stood at 4522Mcft, four times the present capacity. Moreover, Krishna water provided by Andhra Pradesh which is the main source for feeding the Poondi reservoir, has also been stopped.
But officials from the Water Resource department said the current water storage of 1604Mcft in all four tanks will comfortably last for the next 60 days. "300 cusecs of remaining Krishna water from Poondi is being transferred to Red Hills. This is why water levels at Red Hills have crossed 1000Mcft. The city requires only 16 to 18Mcft of water every day. If necessary, we can prolong supply by providing water on alternate days and stretch it to even three months," said an official.
Officials added that 74 cusecs of Cauvery water is being routed to the city from Veeranam tank. "Cauvery water for irrigation purposes for delta regions has been stopped as these areas have received plentiful rainfall. We are getting water from Veeranam mainly for Chennai's drinking water needs."
Majority of the 13 lakes that had been identified by Metro Water as extra sources cannot be used for extraction as many villages are dependent on them for agriculture, said the official. "80 percent of water from Manimangalam, Thenneri lakes, and others are used for irrigation purposes. So we cannot fully depend on these as sources for drinking water," said the official.
Though the Regional Meteorological Centre predicted the north-east monsoons to set in by October 26, rainfall continues to evade the city. Despite several attempts to reach Metro Water for a comment, no response was received.