Tamil Nadu requests 2tmcft Krishna water from Andhra Pradesh

CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday reached out to Andhra Pradesh urging it to sustain the supply of Krishna water - about 2tmcft - until April. Chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami requested Andhra Pradesh C M Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy to take part in a meeting for inter-linking of Cauvery-Godavari rivers.
A delegation led by senior ministers S P Velumani and D Jayakumar called on Jagan Mohan Reddy in Vijayawada and made the request on behalf of Palaniswami. "The delegation submitted the letter from TN chief minister thanking his AP counterpart for heeding to the request and ensured continuous water supply since last year," said a source.
Sources said the Andhra Pradesh government has assured the quantum required by Tamil Nadu to meet the drinking water requirements of Chennai. In August last year, Jagan Mohan Reddy responded positively to the TN government's request and told authorities to divert floodwater of Srisailam to Chennai, which was reeling under the worst drinking water crisis. The EPS government had to ferry water by train from Jolarpet for about four months, paying 8.6 lakh a trip.
"While the agreement between Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh is to supply 12tmcft a year, the state never realized the supply during any water year. This time, the concerted efforts of the state government had the neighbour supplying 6tmcft until Monday with inflow of 259 cusecs. The supply continues," said a senior official.
As on Monday, the combined storage of all four reservoirs, Poondi, Cholavaram, Red Hills and Chembarambakkam, stood at 6.174tmcft, which is 49% of their total storage capacity. While Metrowater requires 1tmcft to meet the monthly requirements of Chennai city, the state does not want to take chances with the summer rain and has sought the help of Andhra Pradesh, sources said.