COIMBATORE: With Siruvani dam level still 15 feet short of its total height, even as the Northeast monsoon is at its peak, officials fear that the city could face water scarcity next summer.
The dam is the principal source of drinking water for lakhs of residents in the old corporation limit.
Though the dam overflowed last year, there hasn’t been enough rainfall in the current monsoon season. If the catchments do not get adequate rainfall, the city could face water scarcity next summer.
However, officials of the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board (TWAD) hope that the water level would go up in the coming days.
“The dam gets less rainfall than that is recorded in the city limits. It had received nearly 500 mm rainfall last year, but it hasn’t even reached 100 mm so far this year. Even so, the present will cater to the water needs of the residents until April next year,” said a senior official from The Tamil Nadu Water and Drainage Board.
According to sources, the water level at the dam was 873.34 metres (from sea level) as against the total height of 878.50 meter. The level is at present 35 feet as against the dams’s total height of 50 feet.
The catchments of Siruvani dam did not receive any rainfall in the last 24 hours ending on Thursday morning at 7.30 am. Only the foothills received 64 mm rainfall.
The Coimbatore Corporation has supplied 72 mld of water from Siruvani in the old corporation limit on Thursday. The Tamil Nadu Water and Drainage (TWAD) board was not able to supply designated 7.6 mld of water to the residents of Kurichi and Kuniyamuthur from Aliyar dam.
According to sources, frequent damages in the distribution pipeline and power cuts between Aliyar and Kurichi have cut the supply schedule short to once in 15 or 20 days.
Even on Thursday, water could not be supplied due to power shutdown at Achipatti, Kinathukkadau and Kurichi pumping stations.