Urban News

  • Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size
Water Supply

No Veeranam water for Chennai

Print PDF

Deccan Chronicle                29.04.2013

No Veeranam water for Chennai

 
Chennai: With the Veeranam water supply being suspended Chennaities are more concerned lot. With summer looming large, the fear of water scarcity has made people to look for alternative arrangements. However metro water officials allayed fear of water scarcity and exuded confidence that that the capital city would be able to avoid the water scarcity as the Krishna water is all set to reach the city by May.

The decreasing levels of water storage and the ability of the city to tackle the water shortage has become a question, as all major reservoirs have recorded a dip in storage levels when compared to last year. The concerns have increased since veeranam lake water levels took a dip.

“We have presently stopped the supply however we do not see any water scarcity presently as we believe the inflow of Krishna water will be enough to tide through the rest of the summer with some rainfall. The city will face problem only if Krishna water is stopped and the department is quite confident about receiving inflow from Krishna water in another four weeks time,” said a senior metro water official

At a time when several water bodies are facing shortage, chennaities feel that situation might turn worse for regions, which do not have direct water connection through pipelines. “We receive water only on every alternative days through tankers lorries and often the water tankers come delayed, we will be very happy if metro water department provide us water everyday as it will reduce quarrel among people,” said A. Malarkodi, visibly upset resident of Kasimedu.

 

Tanks on the streets, 3,000 litres full

Print PDF

The Hindu                29.04.2013

Tanks on the streets, 3,000 litres full

The facilities will replace hand pumps —Photo: K. Pichumani
The facilities will replace hand pumps —Photo: K. Pichumani

More such Metrowater facilities are being added and existing ones being repaired.

As part of its measures to meet the water demand this summer, Chennai Metrowater is setting up street tanks for which water from borewells is being sourced, on a pilot basis.

The water agency is implementing such measures as part of a contingency plan to cope with water shortage. Water release from the Veeranam tank, another vital source that augments city supply, was recently suspended due to dipping water level. As the storage now stands at 67 million cubic feet against the tank’s capacity of 1,465 mcft, less than 10 cubic feet per second is being released.

With Krishna water also suspended so that repair work can be carried out in the canal that transports water to the city, the reservoirs are fast drying up.

Areas across the city are dotted with new tanks that are supplied with water from borewells fitted with suction pipes and motors. These structures replace the hand pumps in these localities. The water agency is in the process of installing tanks sourcing water from borewells in 75 locations across 15 zones.

Instead of using the hand pumps, residents can fetch water from the tanks that would be filled with water twice a day with submersible pumps. The street tanks each have a capacity of 3,000 litres. The water agency has currently identified five locations falling under every area office.

Though several of the added areas have similar means to supply groundwater, many such facilities in the city were not being used. The water agency is now repairing and also adding new structures to cater to the water needs of the residents. In Ambattur, structures to provide water are being installed at places, including Venkatapuram and Kallikuppam.

Sources said that the spots were selected based on the groundwater yield and demand for water in the area. Locations where piped supply is not sufficient were also selected for such street supply.

Metrowater is also in the process of repairing 1,100 hand pumps and providing an additional 2,039 hand pumps to overcome the shortage during summer.

 

No water supply today

Print PDF

The Hindu                26.04.2013

No water supply today

Special Correspondent

Drinking water supply will remain suspended in the following areas in the city on Friday to facilitate inter-connection work on pumping mains of the Golden Rock Drinking Combined Drinking Water Scheme: Ariyamangalam, Malaiyappa Nagar, Rail Nagar, Jaganathapuram, Ex-Servicemen Colony, Melakalkandarkottai, Vivekananda Nagar, Ponneripuram, Ponmalaipatti, Central Prison, Sundaraj Nagar, Sangiliandapuram, Kamaraj Nagar, Khajamalai, Crawford, Anbu Nagar, Kallukuzhi and Sengulam Colony. Regular supply will resume on Saturday, Corporation Commissioner V.P.Thandapani said in a press release.

 


Page 55 of 178