With a steady inflow of the Krishna water from Andhra Pradesh, the Water Resources Department has started diverting water to Chembarambakkam reservoir and step up storage.
The State’s entry point on the Kandaleru-Poondi canal has so far received an inflow of 1.45 tmcft. since September 20. Officials of the WRD said the combined storage of the four reservoirs has improved after the release of Krishna water. The total storage in reservoirs now stands at nearly 5 tmcft. as against their capacity of 11.2 tmcft. The current storage would be sufficient to sustain drinking water supply till summer. At present, the supply in the city is maintained at 700 million litres a day on alternate days.
Low storage
The reservoirs that supply water to the city had a storage of 3.9 tmcft. in mid-September before the Krishna water started flowing into Poondi reservoir. “We have started transferring water from Poondi to Chembarambakkam reservoir through the link canal to boost its storage. Water is being drawn for city supply from the Chembarambakkam lake that now has a storage of only one-third of its capacity,” said an official.
“There may be a 15% loss of water during the process of diversion. We are continuing the work to remove vegetation and desilt the foreshore area of the lake for better water holding capacity,” the official added.
Krishna water would be let into Red Hills reservoir too, which has a better storage among the water bodies, in a few days depending on the demand. The department plans to increase patrolling in the areas around the lake and the link canal to prevent people from bathing in the water course.
Officials said Andhra Pradesh had assured Tamil Nadu of providing 4 tmcft of Krishna water in two months. “We will request for more water even after the onset of the northeast monsoon depending on the storage in reservoirs. Kandaleru reservoir has adequate storage to release water for the city’s requirement,” the official said.