PWD officials said that once-dried Poondi reservoir has now received 805 mcft of water, and Andhra Pradesh officials assured to release water once the dam is filled again.
Chennai: The Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) has flagged a hindrance as Andhra Pradesh irrigation officials stopped the release of Krishna water from Kandaleru dam to Poondi reservoir on Sunday (October 28). CMWSSB has been waiting for water from the northeast monsoon to meet the city's drinking water needs.
Water managers, mustering the courage, said that the existing water storage is more than enough to undertake water distribution for the next two months.
According to the Deccan Chronicle report, Andhra Pradesh had released Krishna water in September based on the requests from Tamil Nadu government. The release was gradually stepped up to 1,800 cusecs, and the Poondi reservoir has received 1.87 tmc of water so far from the Andhra Pradesh's Kandaleru reservoir.
“Going by the current scenario, the water storage at four lakes including Poondi and Chembarambakkam lakes stood at 1,798 million cubic feet (mcft) against a total capacity of 11,257 mcft. The Chennai city would have plunged into a water crisis, had Krishna water not been released,” said a Public Works Department (PWD) official to the Deccan Chronicle. The once-dried Poondi reservoir has now received 805 mcft of water, and Andhra Pradesh officials assured the release of water once the dam is filled again, the official said.
“As of now, we are drawing only surface water to supply drinking water in a full-fledged manner, and we are not planning to go for other sources. Since northeast monsoon is around the corner, we are hopeful of receiving copious rainfall in and around Chennai,” said a CMWSSB engineer. The official also said that the Krishna water supply may have been stopped, but the inflow into Poondi reservoir will continue for the next few days.
Chennai has not received a spell of rain so far while many other interior districts have received decent rain fall, rendering water bodies bone dry.
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