CHENNAI: Even as the combined storage in lakes supplying drinking water to Chennai has dipped below last year’s level, the release of Krishna River water from Andhra Pradesh has been halted due to maintenance work on the Kandaleru–Poondi (KP) Canal. The release is expected to resume in the first week of May.
A Metro Water official said the Andhra Pradesh government had taken up maintenance work on its stretch of the canal. “The works began two weeks ago, and water release was stopped for this purpose. We have been informed that the work will be completed in the first week of May,” the official said.
Krishna water was last released from the Kandaleru reservoir in February and reached the Zero Point at the inter-State border on February 25. The release is part of the Telugu Ganga Project agreement between Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, under which water is supplied from July to October and January to April. Since February 25, Tamil Nadu has received about 1 tmc ft of water.
Typically, Krishna water is first stored in the Poondi reservoir and then diverted to Chembarambakkam and Red Hills, which serve as terminal reservoirs. The 152-km KP Canal originates at Kandaleru reservoir and ends at Poondi.
Meanwhile, the combined storage in the five reservoirs — Poondi, Chembarambakkam, Red Hills, Cholavaram, and Kannankottai–Thervoykandigai — stood at 7,966 mcft on April 26, which is 36 mcft less than the storage recorded on the same day last year.
Individually, Poondi holds 2,064 mcft, Cholavaram 493 mcft, Red Hills 2,047 mcft, Kannankottai–Thervoykandigai 410 mcft, and Chembarambakkam 2,952 mcft.
On February 2, the reservoirs together held 10,509 mcft against their total capacity of 11,757 mcft, which was 156 mcft higher than the level recorded on the same day last year.
On average, Metro Water supplies more than 1,200 mld. On Sunday, 1,221 mld was supplied, of which 1,174 mld went to Chennai, while 47 mld was supplied to industries and nearby local bodies.
The official said a little over 1 tmc ft of water per month is required to sustain supply above 1,000 mld. With nearly 8 tmc ft currently available in the reservoirs and desalination plants contributing around 150 mld, there is unlikely to be any shortage this year, he added.