Krishna water arrives at Tamil Nadu border, to reach Poondi reservoir soon

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

The water released from the Kandaleru Dam has travelled 152 kilometres and reached the Thamarai Kuppam Zero Point near Uthukottai this morning. Officials welcomed the Krishna water with flower petals.

It is expected that the Krishna water will reach Poondi reservoir, located 25 kilometres away, either tonight or by tomorrow morning.

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. Initially, the flow was set at 500 cubic feet per second, which was later increased to 1,300 cubic feet per second.