CHENNAI: With the release of Krishna water from Andhra Pradesh’s Kandaleru reservoir expected in the coming days, the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (Metro Water) has begun emptying Poondi lake to receive the inflow. Officials said the water currently stored in Poondi is being diverted by the water resources department to Red Hills and Chembarambakkam, the city’s terminal reservoirs.
The release of water from Kandaleru had been halted due to maintenance work along the Kandaleru-Poondi (KP) canal. With the work nearing completion, Metro Water expects the inflow to resume in a few days.
Krishna water was last released from the Kandaleru reservoir in February, reaching the Zero Point at the Tamil Nadu border on February 25.
The supply is part of the Telugu Ganga Project agreement, under which Andhra Pradesh provides water to Tamil Nadu between July-October and January-April. Since February 25, Tamil Nadu has received around 1 TMC of water. On Tuesday, Red Hills lake received 250 cusecs from Poondi, while Chembarambakkam got 210 cusecs.
The combined storage across Chennai’s five reservoirs — Poondi, Red Hills, Chembarambakkam, Cholavaram and Kannankottai-Thervoykandigai — stood at 7,553 mcft, slightly lower than the same day last year.
On the day, Poondi was 56% full, while Red Hills and Chembarambakkam stood at 62% and 81% respectively. On average, Metro Water supplies over 1,200 MLD (million litres per day). On Tuesday, 1,232 MLD was distributed — 1,173 MLD to the city and 59 MLD to industries and nearby local bodies.
Officials estimate that about 1 TMC of water per month is required to sustain a supply above 1,000 MLD in Chennai. With 7.5 TMC available in reservoirs and desalination plants contributing around 150 MLD, Chennai is unlikely to face a water shortage this year.