CHENNAI: Krishna water released from Andhra Pradesh is expected to reach the zero point in Tamil Nadu by the early hours of Thursday. The water was initially expected to reach the zero point canal by early Tuesday.
However, the arrival was delayed because a large volume was drawn by Andhra farmers for irrigation.
An official in the Water Resources department said, "The Kandaleru-Poondi (KP) Canal, which brings Krishna water to Chennai, spans 152 km. On May 24, 1,900 cusecs were released from the Kandaleru reservoir, and it was drawn by the AP farmers for irrigation." Adding that, "Once those irrigation channels were closed, the water began flowing toward Tamil Nadu faster. We have requested Andhra to release more water. We are expecting 300 to 400 cusecs of water to reach the Poondi reservoir."
Krishna water was last discharged from the Kandaleru reservoir in February, crossing into Tamil Nadu on February 25. Since that time, the State has drawn approximately 1 TMC of water. Although the supply was paused in mid-April to accommodate maintenance on the KP Canal, officials have confirmed that the repair work is now complete.
Data from the Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board on Tuesday reveals that the combined storage of Chennai's five primary reservoirs, such as Poondi, Cholavaram, Red Hills, Chembarambakkam, and Kannankottai Thervoykandigai, stood at 6,715 mcft. This is compared to their total capacity of 11,757 mcft, and is slightly lower than the 7,001 mcft recorded on the same date last year.