Source : The Hindu Date : 24.06.2009
‘Siruvani water situation is manageable’
Staff Reporter
| No need for panic over scarcity, says Collector |
Photo: K. Ananthan 
Drying up: Two of the three nozzles in the intake tower at the Siruvani Dam. The water level stood at 864.95 m. above mean sea level against a full level of 878.5 m. on Tuesday. —
Coimbatore: Water storage in Siruvani Dam is comfortable and it can cater to the needs of Coimbatore City and wayside habitations for the next 15 to 20 days, District Collector P. Umanath said on Tuesday.
However, there was a marginal but steady inflow because of showers every day maintaining the storage level.
Dr. Umanath was talking to reporters at Siruvani after inspecting the dam intake valves and holding discussions with the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board officials.
He was accompanied by Assistant Collector (Training) Prasanth Wadnere, Executive Engineer of Siruvani Scheme of the TWAD Board P. Gopalakrishnan and Assistant Engineer S. Samapath Kumar.
As against the full storage level of 878.5 m. above mean sea level, the reservoir had storage of 864.95 m.
According to the agreement between Tamil Nadu and Kerala, drawl of water is permitted up to 863.5 m i.e., the dead storage level.
The water available as on date was 1.5 m i.e., 5.5 ft. Dr. Umanath said the average drawl from the reservoir was somewhere between 60 to 70 million litres per day (mld).
Because of the rainfall in catchment areas and inflow through tributaries, the water level had not gone down despite withdrawal.
In spite of the withdrawal of 60 to 70 mld for the last 10 days, which brought down the storage by 10 cm every day, water level in the reservoir had not dropped, thanks to the inflow as a result of the mild showers, Dr. Umanath said.
The inflow into the reservoir from the major source Muthikulam Falls, Gopiaru, Pattiaru, Ecsar, Veeraru, Pambaru, Anai Sholayar and Siruvaniar has equalled the quantum of water withdrawn every day.
Dr. Umanath said irrigation department officials from Kerala had confirmed the arrival of monsoon in Kerala and the rainfall was expected to stabilise in and around Siruvani reservoir within 48 to 72 hours.
Given the present situation, the question of pumping the water available in the catchment areas away from the intake valve did not arise and so was the case with regard to the demands for desilting the catchments areas.
Once the monsoon sets in and the rainfall intensifies, the authorities expect the 22.7 sq. km. catchments to get filled up fast.
Dr. Umanath said 3,000 mm had been the average rainfall at Siruvani and there had been instances of 4,000 mm rainfall.