Post rains, city lake levels rise by 2,000 per cent

Prior to the rains, Cholavaram, Red Hills and Chembarambakkam lakes were bone dry, while Poondi had a meagre 15 mcft of water. As on September 21, Poondi lake has storage of 278 mcft, while Cholavaram has 43 mcft of water. Red hills lake and Chembarambakkam lake have 37 mcft and 8 mcft respectively, shows data from the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (Metrowater).

Interestingly, the storage levels in Poondi and Cholavaram lakes on Saturday are higher than the storage recorded on the same day the previous year – 13 mcft and 8 mcftrespectively.

According to a Metrowater official, inflow to Poondi lake touched 800 cusecs at one point. “Even though the water levels in the lakes have reached a point enabling the distribution, we will not draw water. We will wait till the lakes fill up further,” the official said.

On Wednesday night alone, Poondi had received 206 mm of rain, while it was 135 mm at Cholavaram. Red Hills and Tamaraipakkam had recorded 96 mm and 154 mm rainfall respectively.

The Metrowater stopped drawing water from the lakes after a severe drought during which the storage went to an all-time low of less than one per cent against the total storage capacity 11.25 TMC (11,257 mcft).

Meanwhile, forecasts for Sunday say that Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram, where catchment areas of the lakes located, are likely to receive heavy rains.