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Water woes unlikely as Poondi has good storage
The storage level in the city reservoirs has not come down despite Chennai metro water (CMWSSB) tapping 650 mld (million liters per day), thanks to steady inflow of Krishna water from Andhra Pradesh.
By
migrator
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Chennai
The state Water Resources Department (WRD) has managed to retain the joint total storage capacity of the four reservoirs in Poondi, Cholavaram, Puzhal and Chembarambakkam, at close to 5tmcft (4.94tmcft on Thursday) since last month owing to the rise in inflow from Kandaleru in Andhra. Poondi reservoir, which realised the discharge from Andhra on January 2, is receiving 460 cusecs as on date.
While the storage position of Cholavaram, Puzhal and Chembarambakkam lakes has fallen marginally owing to continuous tapping by CMWSSB in the last one month, the storage in Poondi reservoir, which is fed by Krishna water, has improved from 1.04 to 1.54 tmcft in a month. As per CMWSSB website, inflow into Poondi reservoir has risen from 234 on January 8 to 400 cusecs on Thursday. The city has received 1tmcft from Andhra since January 2.
Going by CMWSSB’s current utilisation rate of 650 mld, the existing storage would easily last a little over four months. Senior WRD officials, who confirmed the receipt of 1tmcft since the last week of December 2017 when Andhra opened its sluices for Chennai, said they were hopeful of receiving another 2 tmcft.
“We sought 3 tmcft during a recent meeting with our Andhra counterparts. They obliged. They have provided 1 tmcft so far,” a highly placed WRD officer told DT Next.
Should the city receive another 2 tmcft in next couple of months, water managers would be able to maintain the existing 650 mld to the state capital till the end of June. Even in the worst-case scenario, the city would not suffer water crisis like it did last summer as the reservoirs jointly store over threefold more than corresponding year (joint storage of the city reservoirs was 1.5tmcft on this day last year).
GANGA FROM AP
- Chennai has received 1 tmcft from Andhra since December end.
- Another 2 tmcft expected from Kandaleru.
- TN is entitled to receive 12 tmcft in two intervals in a calendar year from Andhra as per Telugu Ganga agreement.
- 7 tmcft during January – June period and another 5tmcft the rest of the year.
- Krishna Canal has the capacity to carry 400–500 cusecs per day.
- TN had only received around 3 tmcft from Andhra last year owing to drought like situation.
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