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.

The Hindu 04.01.2010

Metrowater gearing up to cater to new areas

K. Lakshmi

CHENNAI: Chennai Metrowater is set to reassess the water requirement of the city and look out for additional resources if needed to cater to residents of areas to be merged with Chennai Corporation.

The water agency is in the process of implementing schemes to provide water supply and underground sewerage network in some of the 59 urbanised local bodies identified for expansion of network.

Metrowater officials pointed out that though the piped supply is now restricted to the Corporation limit and a few adjoining suburbs, the water agency has jurisdiction over the Chennai metropolitan area as per the CMWSSB Act.

“We will expedite work in the local bodies that would come under direct control of Metrowater. We are already supplying 45 Million Litres (ML) of water to them as bulk supply,” said an official.

On an average, suburban residents now receive 40 litres per capita per day (lpcd). Once the network is provided, it would be increased more than three-fold to 135 lpcd. Of the nine municipalities to be merged with Chennai, Valasaravakkam already has water supply and underground sewerage network. The demand is expected to be 200 million litres a day (mld) in these municipalities.

Among the eight town panchayats, the water supply scheme in Porur is nearing completion. The entire area would get piped supply in May. The quantum of supply would be increased from 0.6 ML to 1.1 ML. The network is designed to cater to the projected demand of 14 mld in the next 30 years, the official said. Schemes are in various stages of implementation in other municipalities and town panchayats. Detailed project reports are being prepared for 25 village panchayats.

Identification of new resource

The projected demand for water in the Chennai metropolitan area is expected to shoot up to 2,248 mld by 2026, whereas the availability of resources would be only 1,615 mld.

In a bid to bridge the gap between demand and availability of resources, Metrowater has appointed Shah Technical Consultants to identity new source yielding 15 thousand million cubic feet of water in a year. The private consultant would have to submit detailed project report comprising information about location, cost of transmitting water and route of pipeline in 15 months.

Metrowater is also setting up eight smaller capacity sewerage treatment plants in areas, including Tiruvottiyur.

Residents would have to pay water and sewerage tax as part of the property tax. Issues pertaining to deposit amount paid to the local bodies for implementation of projects and funding for the remaining schemes would be discussed, the officials said.