Krishna water reaches Poondi at 75 cusecs, Chennai gets a refill

CHENNAI: Krishna river water released from Andhra Pradesh's Kandaleru reservoir has reached Poondi reservoir at 75 cubic feet per second (cusecs), officials with the Water Resources Department (WRD) said on Sunday.

The inflow comes as Chennai's drinking water reservoirs hold a combined storage of 7.154 tmc ft (thousand million cubic feet), or 54.11% of their total capacity, amid the summer heat.

According to officials, Krishna water reached Poondi reservoir after travelling through the Telugu Ganga canal system from Kandaleru reservoir in Andhra. The inflow, which entered Tamil Nadu through the zero point at Uthukottai in Tiruvallur district, has increased from 50 cusecs to 75 cusecs.

Under the Telugu Ganga project agreement, TN is entitled to 12 TMC ft of Krishna water annually — 8 tmc ft between July and October and 4 tmc ft between January and April.

To secure water for Chennai's drinking water needs, State WRD officials recently requested Andhra to release Krishna water for the current season. Andhra released 1,900 cusecs of water, which travelled about 152 km and was expected to reach the zero point on May 25; it arrived on May 28.

WRD officials said the delay was caused by poor maintenance and siltation in some stretches of the canal.