In Rockfort City, civic water managers are a relieved lot

With the Srirangam temple tower looming over the skyline, the check dam at Kambarasampettai brims with water

With the Srirangam temple tower looming over the skyline, the check dam at Kambarasampettai brims with water   | Photo Credit: M. Srinath

Summer showers and release of water from Mettur dam have eased pressure

The city’s water managers are breathing easy, thanks to the recent wetspells and release of water from Mettur Dam.

The summer showers over the past 10 days have not only rendered the heat tolerable, but also helped in improving the ground water table. This has eased the pressure on the city corporation on the crucial drinking water supply front.

The Cauvery riverbed has been bone dry for the past several months and the ground water table in the city is fast depleting. With the threat of drinking water shortage looming large, 2,000 cusecs of water released from Mettur Dam for drinking water purposes has reached Kambarasampettai check dam. And the collector wells, having their source in the Cauvery, have received a much needed wetting. It has helped avert a repeat of last year, when the corporation had to reduce piped water supply to alternative days in the city excluding Srirangam.

The source of the Ramanathapuram Combined Drinking Water Scheme upstream of Kambarasampettai check dam has also stood to benefit by the water release.

Prior to the construction of the check dam, the Corporation — in distress years — had to literally dig channels using earthmovers to direct the stream of water flowing from Mukkombu to the collector wells. Since the late 1990s, the corporation spent heavily on sinking additional deep borewells around its water sources on the Cauvery to tide over the summer situation. The execution of the drinking water augmentation scheme with its source at the Coleroon has helped the Corporation manage the situation without much problem during the summer over the past few years.

And Corporation Commissioner N. Ravichandran is a happy man.

Normally, the corporation supplies about 122 million litres a day (MLD) to the city, which has a population of around nine lakh, from its water sources on the Cauvery and Coleroon.

“We have been able to maintain normal supply so far. And we are confident of maintaining it right through this summer. The water released from Mettur has reached the city,” he told The Hindu on Monday.

“The rain spells have been timely and helped improve the water table in the city. This will also bring down residents dependence on our water supply as the yields from household wells and borewells improve,” Mr. Ravichandran said