CHENNAI: To help the city tide over the ongoing water crisis, Rs 233 crore has been set aside by the State government to tap water from more agriculture fields, mines and also by adding more lorries, tanks to the existing fleets, said Minister for Municipal Administration SP Velumani on Friday.
Officials said that Metro Water, which is supplying 525 MLD currently, will supply 500 MLD till November.
“Four main reservoirs of the city have storage of 6.8 per cent of their total capacity of 12,722 Mcft. An extra of 70 MLD will be tapped from mines and deep wells in Neyveli and 45 MLD from agricultural fields near Thamaraipakkam. We will buy more mini lorries and install extra HDPE tanks for distribution,” he said.
Three lakes located at Ayanambakkam, Kolathur and Perumbakkam remain to be the government’s backup plan for the city. At a cost of Rs 53 crore, works are going on to extract 30 MLD from the three lakes. Additionally, to ensure better water distribution, 1190 HDPE tanks and 126 mini lorries of 2000-3000 litre capacity, will be brought into the system in the next 15 days, to add on to the existing 274 mini lorries, said a metro water official.