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Water Supply

Cyclone Jal gives Chennai five days' water

Tuesday, 09 November 2010 11:21 administrator
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The New Indian Express  09.11.2010

Cyclone Jal gives Chennai five days' water

CHENNAI: It fell trees, led to the death of a passerby on a Chennai road, tro­ubled fishermen by making the seas choppy and disrupted flight services on Sunday. But, there was one thing definitely good about the pouring rains that acc­ompanied Cyclone Jal: it increa­sed storage levels of the lakes and reservoirs that feed the capital’s daily water requirements. In fact, it can roughly meet the city’s thirst for water for more than a week, say officials.

So, how much water did Jal bring in? On Sunday alone, Chennai’s Nungambakkam rece­ived 47.3 mm rainfall, while the Airport observatory reported the figure as 44.8 mm. As skies above the city opened up, water levels at the Poondi, Red Hills, Chembarambakkam and Cholavaram reservoirs cumulatively rose by 10.3 per cent — that is, by 173 mcft. The water levels of these storage bodies stood at 2,111, 1,848, 1,539 and 460 mcft respectively. In all, these water bodies received nearly 150 mm rainfall that day.

Well, what exactly is the average water consumption in Chennai? “Every day,” says a senior Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board official, “20 to 22 mcft is drawn from these reservoirs to meet Chennai’s requirement. Now that the water level has risen by more than 100 mcft, it means Jal has met Chennai’s water needs for at least five days.”

Also, in the next few days, more water from the catchment areas would have reached the reservoirs, thereby increasing the total water storage — all of this owing to the cyclone that weakened in the wee hours of Monday, which saw sunshine across northern Tamil Nadu.

Last Updated on Tuesday, 09 November 2010 11:24
 

Pilloor phase II water scheme completion by March next

Friday, 29 October 2010 01:31 administrator
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The Hindu      29.10.2010

Pilloor phase II water scheme completion by March next

Special Correspondent
The scheme has been divided into six packages

Coimbatore: The official machinery is confident of completing the Pilloor Phase II Drinking Water Supply Scheme for Coimbatore city by March 2011.

Minister Pongalur N. Palanisamy, Mayor R. Venkatachalam, Deputy Mayor N Karthik, Collector P. Umanath, Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra along with Assistant Commissioner of Coimbatore Corporation (South Zone) A. Lakhsmanan, Tamil Nadu Electricity Board – Chief Engineer A. Thangavel and Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) Superintending Engineer Boopathy took up inspection of the works to take stock of the progress.

The entire scheme was divided into six packages for easy and quick implementation and all the six packages are progressing as scheduled.

Mr. Boopathy explained to the team that the scheme exclusively for Coimbatore city is being is being funded by Centre with 50 per cent cost, 30 per cent by Corporation and 20 per cent by State Government.

Outlay

The project began with an estimated outlay of Rs. 113.74 crore and the revised estimate was Rs. 140 crore. Of the total outlay, Rs. 107 crore had already been spent.

Work on digging a tunnel for 80 m was under progress and was being executed by Tamil Nadu Electricity Board. The intake well would have three pumpsets with 450 HP capacity each.

Technology

At Veerapandipirivu, the pipeline carrying the water has to cross a railway line for which the trenchless technology will be used for getting the pipeline across the railway line.

Officials pointed out that work was being expedited so as to have water supply to city before summer next year. In addition, the phase II incorporates a lot of improvements based on the experiences and problems witnessed in the first phase of the scheme.

Zones

Once completed, the scheme would ease the drinking water constraints faced by the Corporation's North and East Zones substantially benefitting these areas directly and indirectly benefitting the other two zones in terms of supplying the surplus water.

The second scheme exclusively for Corporation would reduce the pressure on the first scheme thereby benefitting the other wayside habitations to a considerable extent especially those en route to Coimbatore from Pilloor and habitations beyond Corporation areas.

 

Metrowater to study ADD cases

Friday, 29 October 2010 01:29 administrator
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The Hindu      29.10.2010

Metrowater to study ADD cases

K. Lakshmi

CHENNAI: Chennai Metrowater plans to study the acute diarrhoeal disease (ADD) cases reported to the Communicable Diseases Hospital, Tondiarpet, in the last four years as part of its measures to improve the sewer system.

Officials of the water agency said that the data, to be obtained from Chennai Corporation, would help it identify the areas from where more cases were reported and the outbreak of ADD was frequent. Wherever water contamination was established as the cause for the outbreak, Metrowater would step up monitoring of the sewer system. The study would be completed in a fortnight, an official said.

The water agency would concentrate on localities in its Area I (Kodungaiyur and Tondiarpet), Area III (Perambur and Vyasarpadi), Area IV (Kilpauk and Ayanavaram) and Area VI (Triplicane and Chepauk) where the complaints recur.

The desilting equipment would be operated twice a day to clean the sewer lines across the city and to prevent blocks during monsoon. At present, there are nearly 77,000 manholes in the city. Additional manholes would be provided in places where the distance between two manholes is found to be more than 50 metres. Nearly 300 manholes are expected to be added, the officials said.

 
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