The Hindu 02.12.2010
Four reservoirs may fill up in 10 days
K. Lakshmi
| Residents can look forward to uninterrupted daily supply |
CHENNAI: The four reservoirs that are crucial to the city's water supply will be filled to their capacity in 10 days, according to officials of the Water Resources Department.
Officials of the WRD said that at present, the reservoirs in Poondi, Cholavaram, Red Hills and Chembarampakkam are getting most of the inflow from the Kandaleru reservoir in Andhra Pradesh. As the rainfall in the neighbouring areas of the waterbodies has decreased, the inflow from catchment areas has also come down.
The combined storage of the reservoirs on Monday stood at 8,233 million cubic feet (mcft) against the total capacity of 11,057 mcft. The storage is 2,219 mcft more than the level registered during the corresponding period last year, the officials said.
The reservoir in Poondi is receiving about 790 cubic feet per second (cusecs) of water through the Kandaleru Poondi canal. Subsequently, water from Poondi is released to step up storage in the other three waterbodies. “We still have a spare capacity of 2,400 mcft in the reservoirs that could be filled with the Krishna water,” an official said.
The level in Poondi is being maintained at 34.02 ft against its maximum of 35 ft. Three to five percent of the storage is lost owing to evaporation, the official said.
Officials of the Chennai Metrowater said that with the resources available in the waterbodies, residents could expect uninterrupted daily supply for another year. Chennai is being supplied with 670 million litres daily. The entry point of Kandaleru Poondi canal in Uthukottai has realised 2,631 mcft of Krishna water since early October.
Meanwhile, Veeranam tank, which is also used to augment water supply to the city, has a storage of 1,051 mcft against its capacity of 1,465 mcft. Nearly 5,000 cusecs is being discharged from the tank, the officials said.
