CHENNAI: To prevent inundation during the Northeast monsoon, the Water Resources Department (WRD) is planning to store water only up to 22 feet at Chembarambakkam reservoir. The total capacity of the reservoir is 24 feet.
A senior WRD official said, “we maintain water up to 23 feet on normal days because the inflow is less, but when the monsoon starts, the storage plan is likely to change depending on the 48-hour rain forecast.” Taking about the surplus water, the official said, water is released into the Bay of Bengal as the Adyar River cannot hold the excess water.
The 42-km long river is narrow at some points and areas near these spots get flooded,” he said, adding river widening was carried out along a 120-metre stretch between Anagapudur and Thiruneermalai as well as the Manapakkam Bridge, Thanthikal Canal, and Kundrathur.
Another official said 60% of the river widening work is over. An open canal has already been dug upstream to let surplus water into the sea. The construction of the retaining wall near Manapakkam Bridge is also nearing completion and it would help to discharge surplus water from Chemberambakkam, he said.
“Land acquisition for widening Adyar river between Thiruneermalai and Anagapudhur is underway and work will be completed by March 2023,” he said. The WRD has meanwhile submitted a proposal to the state government to store 500 cusecs of surplus water in Sikkarayapuram quarries. After getting approval, the work will begin.