Deccan Chronicle 06.01.2010

Metro Water ready to meet Greater Chennai’s demands

Jan. 5: Can Chennai Metro Water meet the water requirements of Greater Chennai Corporation that is set to expand from the existing 174 sq km to 426 sq km soon? This is the crucial issue causing worry among CMWSSB (Chennai metropolitan water supply and sewerage board) engineers.

Metro Water top brass confidently say ‘yes’ and point to the growth trajectory of the board in the last three decades. In fact, they have already issued work order to Shah Technical Consultants for identifying new water sources to meet the demand that has been predicted to increase over threefold from the existing 655 mld (million litres per day).

A senior engineering official told this paper on condition of anonymity that the consultancy would submit a detailed report in the next 15 months. The report would also look into conveyance of water to the desired locations, he added.

The board had risen to the level of supplying 655 mld to 54 lakh people in 2009, against the 240 mld supplied to 30 lakh Chennaiites in 1978. It has also increased the treatment capacity from 182 mld to 1,280 mld in the same period. Another interesting feature the officials point to as proof of their ability to accommodate the demand of an expanded Chennai is the fact that Metro Water has provided 5.17 lakh connections in the last 30 years.

Despite having 6.33 lakh connections for which water mains have been laid to the length of 2,930 km, Metro Water has managed to cover 99 per cent of the area with piped supply. The rest was being taken care of by the “blue tanker lorries” that have become synonymous with CMWSSB.

As on date, the four city reservoirs, Chembarambakkam, Cholavaram, Poondi and Puzhal, have a joint storage capacity of 11.057 tmcft with the monthly requirement at 1 tmcft. Apart from the monsoon, the annual 12 tmcft Krishna water from Kandaleru reservoir in Andhra Pradesh and 180 mld from Veeranam are the only available water sources.

Besides, finding new sources, additional storage facilities ought to be developed so as to ensure that the entire 12 tmcft was received from Andhra Pradesh. The maximum water materialised per annum is less than 7 tmcft till date.