1,000 cusecs flowing towards Poondi

Tamil Nadu PWD officials, who were upbeat after the increase in the supply, said that the release from Kandaleru reservoir was flowing without any hitch into Poondi reservoir as all the breaches in the canal en route were plugged in time. According to officials, Krishna water was released on October 10 by the AP government as per the Telugu Ganga project agreement between the two states.

However, the flow was affected due to breaches in the canal at several points. Though 200 cusecs was initially released by Andhra Pradesh officials from Kandaleru reservoir, they gradually increased the quantum to 500 and then 700, Tamil Nadu officials said. 

Meanwhile, PWD officials are discussing the ways and date to for diverting the water from Poondi reservoir to the metro water lakes, Chembarambakkam and Red Hills. “At the present, the storage in Poondi reservoir is 122.70 feet against its full capacity 140 feet and the level may go up in the coming week as Andhra Pradesh has been maintaining the discharge at 1000 cusecs,” said an engineer. He added that the flow at zero point on Saturday was around 150 cusecs, which was earlier 75 cusecs. 

The engineer expressed confidence that the AP government would increase the release from the reservoir. “Since repair works in the Kandaleru-Poondi canal are being carried out, there is no chance for breach. So, when the discharge is stepped upto 1,500 cusecs, there was a possibility of realising the entire quantum at Poondi,” he noted.

A senior engineer, CMWSSB (incharge of Poondi reservoir), said that they were exercising utmost caution in utilising the available storage and added that they would communicate the PWD officials soon regarding the date and quantum to be diverted to the two lakes catering to the city.