CHENNAI: At a time when Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments are entering into a fresh legal battle for Cauvery water, the Andhra Pradesh government has released close to 1 tmcft of water to Chennai from Krishna River.
As per data, Andhra Pradesh has released about 0.9 tmcft of water between July 1 and August 3. Krishna water from Kandaleru reservoir in the neighbouring state is flowing into Poondi lake in Chennai at a rate of about 400 cusecs.
The AP government is required by the Telugu Ganga Agreement to provide the state with 12 tmcft of water annually. Interestingly, AP released only 5.6 tmcft of water for the entire 2025-2026 cycle, of which about 2 tmcft were received between February and June this year.
With steady flow to Poondi, the overall storage of five lakes - Poondi (1,048 mcft), Cholavaram (92 mcft), Redhills (1,706 mcft), Kannankottai-Thervoykandigai (265 mcft) and Chembarambakkam (2,082 mcft) - stood at 5,193 mcft on Tuesday morning against the combined total storage capacity of 11,757 mcft, which is 29 mcft more than the storage on Monday.
Officials from the water resources department said that the neighbouring state has been requested to release water continuously until the city lakes are full. Based on the requests, the AP government has increased the rate of release following a slump in June when the amount of water received at the Zero Point at the state border went down to less than 200 cusecs, the official said.
Quarries inspected
Metro Water MD T Anand on Tuesday inspected the abandoned stone quarries at Sikkarayapuram and Erumaiyur, maintained as emergency water storage sources for Chennai, and directed officials to ensure proper upkeep. The quarries, with a combined storage capacity of 0.7 tmcft, can supply water during emergencies.