Drinking water shortage likely in Coimbatore by mid May as water level in Siruvani dips to 7.25 feet

As the water level in Siruvani Dam is nearly 7.25 feet out of the full reservoir level of 49.53 feet, the city is likely to suffer an acute shortage of drinking water by mid May, according to an official at the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board.

As the water level in Siruvani Dam is nearly 7.25 feet out of the full reservoir level of 49.53 feet, the city is likely to suffer an acute shortage of drinking water by mid-May, according to an official at the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board. As per the Board, the level was at 8.53 feet on April 11.

A civic body official said water would have to be supplied through lorries, for the first time since 2017.

In January 2017, the Siruvani water supply was stopped for the first time in Coimbatore city’s history since the scheme’s implementation in 1929. As a special case, water was drawn for supply from the ‘dead storage’, which is primarily for wildlife. Normal supply resumed after the dam’s catchment received rainfall, the Corporation official said.

The Board has been maintaining the water supply quantity to the city at 44.16 million litres a day (MLD) at present, instead of the regular 101.4 MLD, according to sources.

It is to be noted that of the Coimbatore district’s total drinking water requirement of 265.70 MLD, 101.4 MLD is from the Siruvani Dam. Siruvani water is supplied to 22 wards under the Coimbatore Corporation, 28 village panchayats and seven town panchayats.

If the water release was regulated to 70 MLD from 100 MLD from November each year, we could cater to the needs of people till June, the sources added.

A Corporation authority in the water supply department told The Hindu the excess water was let out in the rivers by the Kerala officials during monsoon, hence the Corporation extracted as much water as possible for public use during October and November. So, reducing supply quantities would not be ideal, he stated.