Coimbatore corporation advocates judicious use of Siruvani dam water

COIMBATORE: Water level in Siruvani reservoir inched to 20.14ft against its full capacity 49.53ft on Saturday, thanks to rain in its catchment areas.
While the city corporation’s water managers expressed happiness over the increase in the water level, they are worried about the predictions of deficit rainfall this year. “The catchment area of Siruvani receives rain only during the southwest monsoon. If the expert predictions turn right, then the chances of the reservoir overflowing will be less. We will improve supply of drinking water to the city only if the reservoir overflows,” said a water manager.
As of now, the corporation is supplying drinking water once in seven to eight days and non-potable water either daily or on alternate days.
Despite the increase in water level, only 50 to 55MLD is being drawn from the reservoir, the official said. “Requirement of Siruvani water-fed areas remains as high as 96.4MLD. We have been drawing an additional 10MLD from the Pillur reservoir to compensate the shortage.”
The water requirement of the city is 247MLD. The corporation has been providing over 180MLD through pipelines and the rest through water trucks, which conduct 70 to 80 trips a day based on the requirement, the official told TOI.
“If the situation doesn’t improve, the corporation will have to continue with the current water supply frequency so as to supply drinking water without much difficulty till the next summer. The catchment area of the reservoir does not receive much rainfall during the northeast monsoon. We are not facing a crisis as such, but, we need to preserve drinking water for future also,” he added.
Water level had gone down to 6.56ft, just 1.56ft above the dead storage capacity, in early July.