Chennai: The water supply to Chennai from Jolarpettai through train services will be doubled come weekend. This after an additional rake (a formation of coupled coaches or cars) is expected to be put into service shortly.

Reports suggested that the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) has requested for another rake with 50 wagons for the transportation of water from Jolarpettai to Chennai.

The second rake will bring in 5.5 million litres of water to Chennai everyday. The additional rake is expected to be available from July 20.

The initial request made by CMWSSB to Railways was to arrange for four rakes so that 11 million litres of water can be transported to Chennai in a day.

However, only one rake was ready and available for use by the CMWSSB . 2.75 million litres of water was being moved to Chennai every day at present.

The special water train begins its journey from Jolarpettai at 7 pm everyday. It then reaches Villivakkam at midnight. The train makes a single trip every day between the two places.

The water thus received is being taken to the CMWSSB facility in Villivakkam from where it is pumped to the Kilpauk water treatment plant. The treated water is then being supplied to Central Chennai area.

The first trip by the 50-wagon train was made from Jolarpettai to Chennai on July 12.

Chennai suffered a severe water crisis for months and heaved a temporary sigh of relief just last month when the Tamil Nadu chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami announced that the city will receive 10 Million Litres per Day (MLD) of water from Jolarpettai for the next six months to tide over the crisis.

He also said that he had allocated Rs 65 crore for the project. The plan was to tap water from the Vellore Combined Drinking Water Supply Scheme which is fed by Cauvery water from Mettur dam.