The water in all the four lakes in the periphery of Chennai currently stands at 55.37% storage as against 7.74% on the same day in 2019.
The mere thought of summer is enough to send shudders down any Chennai resident’s body. Last year, the summer was particularly harsh as the city battled one of its worst water crises in many years. With another summer just around the corner, the capital city’s residents are apprehensive about the water situation.
Chennai battled one of its worst summers in 2019 with its lakes going bone dry and water being brought from Jolarpettai in train wagons to be supplied to the residents.
As of Wednesday morning, Chennai had 55.37% storage in the four lakes in its periphery that supply a major share of water to the city. Poondi reservoir had 1.524 tmcft water as on Tuesday morning while Cholavaram lake had 0.072 tmcft water. Redhills lake had 2.648 tmcft water and Chembarambakkam lake had 1.990 tmcft water. Cumulatively, these four lakes have 6.234 tmcft water as against the full capacity of 11.257 tmcft. In contrast, on March 18 last year there was only 0.871 tmcft water in all four lakes put together.
Apart from these four lakes, Veeranam lake in Cuddalore district, which supplies Cauvery water to Chennai, had 1.257 tmcft water as on Wednesday, according to data published by the Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority (TNSDMA). The water level in Veeranam on the same day in 2019 stood at 0.759 tmcft.
Allaying fears about a possible water scarcity during the months of April and May, a source at the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) told TNM that Chennai is better placed this summer than last in terms of water availability.
“I don’t think there is any need to worry this year because we have six times more water in our storage compared to what we had last year. We also have Veeranam lake and we have been receiving Krishna water everyday even now,” the source said.
Tamil Nadu has been receiving water from Krishna river under the Telugu Ganga project since October 2019. The state has received around 6.42 tmcft water since October 2019 from Andhra Pradesh.
Another senior official from CMWSSB said that the water from Krishna adds nearly 57 tmcft water everyday into the Poondi reservoir, from where it is sourced for distribution across the city. “We expect Andhra Pradesh to give us water till April, as usual. This will act as a buffer to help us tide over summer,” the officer added.
With Chennai’s lakes and other sources storing more water compared to the previous year, CMWSSB is gearing up for what seems to be a normal summer in 2020.
Source: The News Minute