The Hindu        19.08.2014  

Siruvani continues to overflow

Water flowing out of Siruvani Dam.— Photo: K. Ananthan

For almost a fortnight now water has been overflowing
from the Siruvani Dam — something that has not happened in the recent
past. According to sources, ever since the water level touched and
surpassed the full reservoir level of 49.50 feet on August 2, there has
been a steady flow of water into the reservoir.

In
the last week, the water level has remained above the full reservoir
level, though the rainfall remained negligible, and the quantity of
water drawn to the city was a constant at over 101 million litres a day.

The
Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board sources said that on August
11 the rainfall at the reservoir was 2mm, on August 12 it was 40mm, on
August 13 nil, August 14 1mm, August 15 22mm, August 16 33mm, August 17
1mm, and August 18 2mm.

The water position in the
reservoir, and the over-100 mld supply had moved the Coimbatore
Corporation to supply Siruvani water on alternate days to 26 Wards in
full, and another eight to 10 Wards in part.

The
result of the improved Siruvani supply had resulted in improvements in
Pilloor supply to residents in the East Zone. The water supply now stood
at once in seven — eight days, up from the once in 14 days supply, said
K.R. Jayaram, Chairman, East Zone.

The once-in-14-days supply happened when the Corporation diverted Pilloor water to meet the shortfall in Siruvani-fed areas.

Mr.
Jayaram said that the water supply situation in East Zone would further
improve as and when the TWAD Board completed the construction of the
overhead tanks as part of the Pilloor I extension project. Two tanks
would soon come into use.

The East Zone would see
further improvement in supply once the Corporation completed 5.40km
pipeline laying work connecting the Pilloor main storage tank in
Ganapathy with the tank in DGR Nagar. This will help supply water once
in three or four days.