Chennaiites look to rain god after reservoir levels affected water supply to homes
13 Sept 2015 11:48 AM IST
Water storage in Poondi, Red Hills and Chembarambakkam is less than what it was around this time last year
Dipping reservoir levels, which has affected water supply to homes, has left Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) officials praying for rain.
Chennai: Dipping reservoir levels, which has affected water supply to homes, has left Chennai Metro Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) officials praying for rain. Water storage in Poondi, Red Hills and Chembarambakkam is less than what it was around this time last year.
According to CMWSSB data, Poondi Lake is shown to be storing 57 mcft water as on September 11, down from 59 mcft at the start of this month. It is also down on the 679 mcft water that Poondi held on the same day in 2014.
Chembarambakkam, though, has improved from 165 to 220 mcft during this month, but still falls short of the 593 mcft it stored this time last year. In fact, the storage in Poondi is the worst in 11 years’ in a September month, since the 1.2 mcft that was recorded in September 2004. While the Cholavaram storage has been nil in three consecutive September months, storage in Red Hills is the worst since September 2001, when it had 217 mcft water.
This means that metro water is dependent on water from Veeranam Lake and the two desalination plants to quench the city’s thirst. CMWSSB officials told DC that they expect Veeranam levels to hold firm.
“We have great expectation that the rain will help improve reservoir capacity. We are actually praying that it happens. But even in the case of a monsoon failure, Veeranam lake and the desalination plants are reliable sources of water,” said a senior CMWSSB official.
As on September 9, Veeranam had 849.20 mcft, down from 967.45 mcft on September 1, against its 1465 mcft capacity. Around this time, in 2014, the storage was in excess of 1000 mcft.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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