CHENNAI: To quench its thirst, the city will start receiving water from stone quarries in the neighbouring Kancheepuram district within the next two days as the city reservoirs have reached near-dead storage limit due to consecutive monsoon failure.
Chennai Metro Water Board would pump out 30 million litres of water daily (MLD) from 22 stone quarries in Sikkarayapuram, said an official. The pipes extending about 3 km were laid to take out water from quarries, and trials were carried out on Sunday to ensure there was no leakage, added the official.
Metro Water would pump 3,000 MLD water through the pipeline and route it through Chembarambakkam treatment plant before supplying it through the water distribution system.
With the reservoirs nearly drying up, water managers are tapping every available source, including wells and quarries to ensure that the city is adequately supplied.
It is learnt that efforts are also being taken to tap water from the Porur lake. A temporary water treatment plant has been set up there to treat the water and supply it to the city through the Veeranam pipeline, which passes through the lake. This work is expected to be completed soon. Plans are on to tap 4 MLD of water from Porur lake.
The four reservoirs - Poondi (34 mcft), Cholavaram (zero mcft), Red Hills (138 mcft) and Chembarambakkam (75 mcft)- together have 247 million cubic feet of water as of now.