The Hindu 21.08.2009
Metrowater resumes drawal of water from Veeranam tank
K.Lakshmi
| Thanks to good inflow from the Mettur reservoir |
The quantum of drawal will be stepped up to 180 mld in the coming days
Metrowater set to create awareness about significance of harvesting rainwater
CHENNAI: After a gap of three months, Chennai Metrowater started drawing water from the Veeranam tank for city supply, from Thursday.
Officials of Metrowater said that they had stopped taking water from the tank after it dried up. With the tank recently getting inflow from Mettur reservoir, Metrowater has decided to draw about 40-50 million litres of water a day.
The quantum of drawal would be stepped up to 180 mld in the coming days. The present storage level of the tank is 376 million cubic feet (mcft) whereas its capacity is 1,465 mcft.
Once the water supply from the tank is stabilised, the additional quantum of water taken from the city reservoirs, including from Chembarambakkam, would be reduced in a few days. Moreover, the extraction of about 30 mld of water from Neyveli borewells would also be maintained for a week.
With the combined storage level of the four city reservoirs dropping to 3,183 mcft as against the capacity of 11,057 mcft, the water from Veeranam tank would help augment the daily water supply till the onset of the northeast monsoon.
Rainwater harvesting
Metrowater is also all set to create awareness about the significance of harvesting rainwater to improve the groundwater level and quality. It proposes to hold free seminars on installation of RWH structures and maintenance during September and October.
Officials of Metrowater said on an average, there has been a rise in the water table by 4.5 m to 5 m across the city in the past four years, thanks to RWH system.
“We receive nearly 300 enquiries on our helpline (28454080) about RWH maintenance between August and October every year. We have decided to conduct seminars at the training centre in Kilpauk on Mondays and Fridays.
Residents will also be given technical guidance to check the maintenance of the RWH structures,” an official said.
Besides reaching out to school and college students through lectures, radio programmes and advertising on buses have also be planned as part of the campaign.
Metrowater depot offices would be involved in door-to-door campaign, the official said.
