Water discharge reduced from Poondi & Chembarambakkam reservoirs due to less inflow in catchment
The officials stated that there is adequate storage available to store rainwater during the northeast monsoon that is likely to commence on October 18.
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CHENNAI: The Water Resources Department (WRD) reduced the water outflow to 550 cusecs and 50 cusecs from Poondi and Chembarambakkam reservoirs respectively on Friday.
The officials stated that there is adequate storage available to store rainwater during the northeast monsoon that is likely to commence on October 18.
"There has been a break from rain for the last few days, the inflow in the catchment area of the reservoirs had reduced. And there is no water received from Krishna water. At present, 550 cusecs of water are released from the reservoir that including 400 cusecs to Red Hills Reservoir and 100 cusecs to Chembarambakkam Lake. We will discharge water to these reservoirs until it reaches its maximum storage before the onset of northeast monsoon," said a senior WRD official.
The department opened the shutters of Poondi reservoir on September 25 and released 1,000 cusecs of water.
The quantum gradually increased to 2,500 cusecs due to intermittent rain in the city and suburbs. However, there is no rainfall activity which has led to a decrease in the discharge level recently.
Similarly, the water outflow from Chembarambakkam Lake reduced to 50 cusecs from 100 cusecs.
The reservoir receives water only from the Poondi reservoir and no water in the catchment area. For the first time, the reservoirs released water before the onset of the NE monsoon. The dams would have enough space to store adequate water in the next three months, explained another official.
At present, Red Hills Reservoir has 2,455 mcft, and Chembarambakkam reservoir's present storage is 3,118 mcft. Poondi Reservoir's storage level currently is 2,515 mcft, and water storage in Kannankottai Thervoy Kandigai and Choolavaram is 474 mcft and 502 mcft respectively.