Chennai has enough water for eight months: PWD

Combined storage of five reservoirs stands at 8.5 TMC; Chennai to also receive full quota of Krishna water
A view of the Poondi lake in Tiruvallur district | shiba Prasad sahu
A view of the Poondi lake in Tiruvallur district | shiba Prasad sahu

CHENNAI: With more than 1.75 TMC of Krishna water released from Andhra Pradesh into Tamil Nadu, and the city’s reservoirs brimming, there is sufficient water to quench Chennai’s thirst for at least eight months, confirmed public works department (PWD) officials.

On Friday, more than a couple of months since the heavy rains stopped, the five storage levels together had a water storage level of 8.5 TMC. The combined water level of these reservoirs at the same time last year was only 4.3 TMC. The adequate water supply has also ensured that very little water is procured from the desalination plants in the city. Apart from the reservoirs and desalination plants, 1.75 TMC of Krishna water was released and the number is expected to touch 3 TMC in a couple more months.

The Kandaleru reservoir in Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, which augments the drinking water supply to Chennai, had attained a record storage of 52.94 tmcft for the first time (in April 2020) since the launch of the Telugu Ganga Canal System in 1996. This effectively meant that the city will receive its full quota of water from the neighbouring state.

Also, the reservoirs in Chennai had received copious amount of water inflow following heavy rains due to cyclones late last year. The Thervoy Kandigai reservoir, which was built exclusively to store drinking water for the city and inaugurated in November last year, reached its full capacity for the first time in October. Its storage now stands at 486 mcft as against the total capacity of 500 mcft.

However, the department did not comment on increasing the water supply as promised earlier. As water pipelines have been laid in most of the added areas, the Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board and Public Works Department were planning to increase water supply to the city.

While about 810 MLD of water is being supplied to the city daily for domestic use, the requirement stands at 1,200 MLD, per day. But, when asked about this, a senior official said, “Only if the supply is in deficit, there will not be a wastage. If water runs in taps all day, public might end up wasting the resource. There should always be a 20 to 30 per cent deficit.”

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