Chennai
In July, the average groundwater level was at 5.22 m from the surface, which went down to 5.38 m in August. It was 6.68 m in June, which was more than a metre lower than the water level in August.
Among the 15 zones in the city, only Anna Nagar (0.11 m), Valasaravakkam (0.07 m), Alandur (0.06 m), Adyar (0.17 m) and Sholinganallur (0.32 m) have recorded increase in the water level.
The level in Kodambakkam zone went deeper by 0.45 m when compared to the July number. Incidentally, the zone had registered the biggest improvement of 2.57 m in July. The level in July was 4.95 m, which went down to 5.40 m in August.
Ambattur zone that hosts a large number of industries has the worst groundwater level at 7.42 meters followed by Royapuram (6.79 meters).
When asked, an official said the groundwater level had improved in July due to unexpected rain. “Now, the levels are coming down as there was no significant rainfall in August and increase in usage of groundwater by the residents,” the official said.
Meanwhile, storage level at Chembarambakkam, Red Hills, Cholavaram and Poondi, the four lakes that supply drinking water to the city, is substantially higher than what they had on the same day in 2019. On Thursday, the lakes had a combined storage of 4,015 mcft as against last year’s storage of 15 mcft.
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