Krishna water arrives at Poondi reservoir on 23.09.2024

CHENNAI: Krishna water released from Andhra Pradesh's Kandaleru Dam arrived at the Poondi reservoir in Tamil Nadu on Monday night, as reported by Daily Thanthi.

The Poondi reservoir, one of the key sources of drinking water for Chennai, has been facing a significant decline in water levels due to the scorching summer heat. In response, the Water Resources Department of Tamil Nadu requested the Andhra Pradesh government to release water from the Kandaleru Dam.

On September 19, water was released from the Kandaleru dam. Initially, the flow rate was set at 500 cubic feet per second (cusecs), which was later increased to 1300 cubic feet per second.

The water has travelled 152 kilometres and reached the Thamarai Kuppam Zero Point near Uthukottai on Monday morning, with officials celebrating the occasion by showering flower petals.

Later, the water travelled an additional 25 kilometres and reached the Poondi reservoir at 7 pm yesterday, with an inflow of 50 cubic feet per second.

By today morning, the water flow in the Poondi reservoir had risen to 100 cubic feet per second. Its full reservoir level is 35 feet, with water storage levels currently at 65 million cubic feet (mcft) against its total capacity of 3.231 TMC. This marks 2.01 percent of its water capacity.

As per an inter-state agreement signed in 1983, the Andhra Pradesh government is required to supply Tamil Nadu with 12 TMC (thousand million cubic feet) of Krishna river water annually. This includes 4 TMC from January to April and 8 TMC from July to October, released from the Kandaleru Dam near Nellore to the Poondi Lake.

In January, Poondi reservoir did not receive Krishna water as it had adequate water reserves. However, recent sunny conditions caused a significant drop in the water level at the reservoir. Considering this, officials from the Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department wrote to the Andhra government requesting the release of Krishna water from the Kandaleru Dam. The request was denied, citing insufficient water in the Kandaleru Dam.

Recently, heavy rains in Andhra Pradesh led to an influx of floodwaters into the Kandaleru Dam, raising the water level significantly. Taking this into account, the authorities decided to release water from the dam to Poondi Lake on September 19.