WRD pins hope on Krishna water and monsoon rain to boost storage in Chennai’s reservoirs to meet drinking water needs

Chennai expects Krishna water supply to meet drinking water needs, while heavy rainfall is forecasted for north Tamil Nadu.

The Water Resources Department expects to receive Krishna water supply from Andhra Pradesh beyond the stipulated period of October to augment drinking water resources.

Chennai has so far received Krishna water sufficient to meet city’s water requirements for a fortnight since September 23. The State’s entry point of Kandaleru Poondi canal at Uthukottai, Tiruvallur district, has so far received nearly 501 million cubic feet of water (mcft), which is equal to the quantum of drinking water supply for a fortnight.

On Saturday, the KP canal at Uthukottai received nearly 377 cubic feet per second of water (cusecs) and this is expected to be stepped up gradually. (Chennai usually receives Krishna water in two spells — June to October and January to April)

While WRD pins its hope on ensuing northeast monsoon and Krishna water to boost storage in the reservoirs, heavy rainfall is set to intensify particularly over north Tamil Nadu, including Chennai and delta districts, from October 14.

The five major reservoirs feeding drinking water to Chennai now have a storage of 3,874 mcft, which is only 32.95% of their capacity.

Officials noted that the reservoirs had a storage of nearly 9,089 mcft of water against their total capacity of 11,757 mcft on October 12 last year. “We need at least two rain spells of heavy intensity for reservoirs to fill up. We need a minimum of two or three days of heavy rain for waterbodies to reach full storage,” said the official. The Andhra Pradesh authorities have assured to give a minimum of 2,000 mcft of Krishna water.

Every year, the WRD releases water ahead of the monsoon as part of flood mitigation measures. This year, the major reservoirs already have enough space to store floodwater. “We will monitor the water level in the reservoirs. There are chances for opening the shutters only if their storage reaches above 80% before the end of monsoon,” the official said.