Cyclone Nivar brings heavy rainfall to Chennai; Chembarambakkam lake now 79 per cent full

CHENNAI: With Cyclone Nivar bringing heavy rainfall to Chennai since Monday night, the Chembarambakkam lake received an inflow of nearly 200 cusecs of water.

The lake is now 79 per cent full. The storage level stands at 2,913 mcft as against its total capacity of 3,645 mcft.

"Though it has been raining very heavily in Chennai, the catchment areas of Chembarambakkam did not receive much rainfall. Its depth now stands at 21.2 feet and we will release some water only after it reaches 22 feet," said an official from the Public Works Department.

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Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday issued orders to release the water for the safety of the public as soon as it crosses 22 feet. "Full capacity is 24 feet. As of now, the meteorological department says rains would be there only for another two days. When there is continuous rain, surplus water has to be evacuated. But the decision on releasing water depends on the quantum of rainfall in the coming days," said Palaniswami.

The PWD official said it requires at least 36 hours of heavy rain and that residents need not worry. Necessary precautions have been taken to release the water in phases and not cause flooding, like in 2015.

Commissioner of Revenue Administration K Phanindra Reddy pointed out that when there are heavy rains, the inflow into Chembarambakkam lake would be around 6,500 cusecs only and this can be easily diverted to the Adyar river. Since the Adyar river has a capacity to carry 60,000 cusecs of water, people need not fear about flooding. Besides, people would be intimated in advance about the release of water from Chembarambakkam lake, if the government decides to do so.

The government has also stopped releasing Krishna water into the Chembarambakkam lake on Monday. Another source for the lake is excess water from the Sriperumbudur and Palliapakkam tanks. If the intensity continues, officials expect they may have to release water by Wednesday night.

The water level of the other three reservoirs including Poondi, Sholavaram and Red Hills is 1786 mcft, 178 mcft and 2,422 mcft respectively.

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