Water withdrawal from Siruvani increased

COIMBATORE: Withdrawal of water from Siruvani dam has been increased considerably following talks by officials of the two states.

As the water level in the dam began to go down, the Kerala Irrigation Department reduced discharge from the dam leaving many parts of Coimbatore district to face water scarcity.

Already, the dam’s storage level has been reduced from the maximum water level of 45 feet as against its full reservoir level (FRL) of 49.50 feet by the neighbouring state.

Water to a maximum of upto 101.4 MLD of water could be drawn, which is also the fixed maximum quantum of water to be drawn from the dam on a daily basis, when the water level remains at comfortable range.

Over the last few days, the irrigation department of the neighbouring state reduced supply from around 70 MLD to around 35 MLD, even though the water storage level in the dam was around 25 feet.

The drop in water withdrawal led to several parts of Coimbatore facing severe water shortage. In this regard a request was made to Kerala at an interstate meeting, which resulted in the neighbouring state to allow increased withdrawal. As on Tuesday, the dam has storage of 24 feet.

On Tuesday, 55 MLD of water was withdrawn and it is likely to be increased to normal levels in the coming days. “Water drawn from the newly launched Pillur III scheme has been supplied on a trial basis. Once the project is implemented completely, water could be supplied once in three days,” said an official of Coimbatore Corporation.