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Krishna water and copious monsoon: City to have a comfortable summer
This summer, Chennai will not starve for water as it experienced in 2019, as the city lakes are brimming and are continuing to receive Krishna water.
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migrator
migrator
Chennai
According to a Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (Metro Water) official, the city requires around 1 TMC drinking water every month. The present storage, the official said, would last till northeast monsoon sets in.
In 2019, the lakes had gone bone dry, forcing the Metro Water to draw water from agricultural wells and even bring it on railway wagons. In contrast, the five lakes supplying drinking water to the city have a combined storage of 10,908 mcft against the capacity of 11,757 mcft on Monday. Poondi lake is 97.7 per cent full – 3,135 mcft against its capacity of 3,231 mcft.
Cholavaram lake has 877 mcft against its capacity of 1,081 mcft. Red Hills reservoir has 3,155 mcft (capacity 3,300 mcft) and Thervoykandigai lake has 394 mcft (capacity 500 mcft). Red Hills lake is 95.61 per cent full, while Chembarambakkam lake has 3,347 mcft (91.82 per cent).
The Kandaleru-Poondi canal (KP canal) that brings Krishna river water from Kandaleru reservoir in Andhra Pradesh to Poondi lake has an inflow of 722 cusecs at the Tamil Nadu border on Monday. As the Poondi lake is almost full, the water is released to Red hills and for the city’s supply.
As per the Telugu Ganga agreement between Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, the state should receive 12 TMC water every year. From September 28, 2019, to April 14, 2020, it received 7.55 TMC, and between September 20, 2020, to January 3, 2021, 5.42 TMC was received. That is, between September 28, 2019, to January 3, 2021, the city received 13.77 TMC from Kandaleru reservoir.
Encouraged by the healthy storage, the water manager had already increased the supply to 830 million liters per day (MLD) a few weeks ago. On Sunday, 830.78 MLD was supplied to the city against 607.37 MLD of water supplied on the same day the previous year.
Notice to State on plea seeking rules to augment groundwater
The Madras High Court has been moved seeking for a direction to evolve adequate rules for restoration and recharge of groundwater table.
The first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, before whom the plea came on Monday, ordered notice returnable in two weeks.
The petitioner’s counsel had contended that there were adequate reservoirs in Chennai to store and supply water to residents if rainwater was conserved. But even after the massive flood in 2015, the city experienced drought the following year due to the failure to conserve water. Even this year, owing to copious monsoon the city seems to be better placed. But it was not sustainable because of lack of restoration and recharge of groundwater, the counsel said.
He also submitted that there are 39 temple tanks capable of storing adequate water for the city and also help recharge the water table. But none of them have been adequately utilised, with drought like conditions surfacing often, he submitted.
Even as it wondered on the efficacy of bringing such an issue to the court where there could be absolute lack of expertise in the area, Chief Justice Banerjee pointed out that the bench was aware of the issue that prevailed all over the world and that the government could not make any pretences. The issue has to dealt with scientifically enabling a lasting solution, he added. The bench then directed the Advocate General to communicate the plea to the State and obtain a response within a fortnight.
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