Krishna water from Andhra Pradesh likely to reach T.N. border by next week; release to boost sinking storage in Chennai reservoirs

Works to repair the shutters in Poondi and monsoon preparedness works in canals linking the city’s major reservoirs have been completed to facilitate storing and conveying of Krishna water

Krishna water discharged from Kandaleru reservoir is on its way to boost the sinking storage in Chennai’s reservoirs feeding city’s drinking water needs. The Water Resources Department expects the water released into Kandaleru Poondi (KP) canal to reach the Tamil Nadu border by Monday or Tuesday.

With the water from Andhra Pradesh being released into the 152-km long canal beginning Thursday night, the meeting with Andhra Pradesh officials at Kandaleru has been postponed. Officials of the WRD said the KP canal is now carrying about 500 cubic feet per second (cusecs) of water and would be used to feed Tirupati’s drinking water needs enroute.

“We expect the water discharge to be stepped up to about 1,200 cusecs in a few days. The Andhra Pradesh officials have assured us that the Krishna water discharge will be increased gradually,” said an official. Kandaleru reservoir has a storage of 16.44 thousand million cubic feet of water as on Monday.

If about 1,200 cusecs of Krishna water is let into the KP canal, the State’s border in Uthukottai, Tiruvallur district is likely to receive nearly 600-700 cusecs of water. This would in turn have to travel another 25 km to reach Poondi reservoir where the resources would be stored and distributed for Chennai’s drinking water supply.

The department expects a 10%-20% of loss due to evaporation before the water reaches the reservoir in Tiruvallur district. Works to repair the shutters in Poondi and monsoon preparedness works in canals linking the city’s major reservoirs have been completed to facilitate storing and conveying of Krishna water.

The five city reservoirs, including Red Hills and Chembarambakkam, have a combined storage of 3,713 mcft, which is nearly 32% of their total capacity. “We have sought a minimum of 1,000 mcft of Krishna water from the neighbouring State of Andhra Pradesh to boost water resources until the onset of Northeast monsoon in October end,” the official said.

The city reservoirs continue to be the major source of drinking water of 1,108 million litres supplied daily to the residents of Chennai.

Published - September 20, 2024 07:26 pm IST