Chennai lakes half empty as monsoon season ends

Chennai: The Northeast monsoon, which started with a bang in Tamil Nadu, failed to fill the four major lakes that provide drinking water to Chennai. This could mean possible water shortage in the metropolis later this year.

According to the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board website, the four lakes - Poondi, Cholavaram, Red Hills and Chembarambakkam - have 4,969 mcft against their combined capacity of 11,257 mcft, as on December 31.

Although the Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur districts received excess rainfall of 20, 6 and 16 percent respectively, all the rain poured during the first few days of the monsoon season resulting in a major portion of rainwater draining into the sea.

A Metrowater official said that the monthly drinking water requirement of the city is 1,000 million cubic feet (mcft). With less than 5,000 mcft water available in the reservoirs and with the supply from Veeranam Lake, we could provide uninterrupted water supply till June, the official added.

Metrowater officials had faced a hard time last year when the 2016 northeast monsoon failed miserably. On December 31, 2016 the combined water storage in the four lakes was only 1,706 mcft.

To get over the unprecedented water shortage, Metrowater officials resorted to tapping water from abandoned quarries and agricultural lakes. "With Chennai and neighbouring districts receiving heavy rains during the first week of November, our hopes were up. But the later part of the season failed", the official said.

According to a data released by Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Tamil Nadu has received average rainfall of 399 mm during the monsoon season against the normal rainfall of 434.6 mm, amounting to an 8 percent deficit.
Between 2010 and 2016, the highest storage recorded was in 2010 when the four lakes had 10,404 mcft. During 2011 and 2015, the lakes had storage of 9,012 and 9,866 mcft respectively, the official added.

Krishna water reaches ‘zero point’

The much-awaited Krishna river water entered Tamil Nadu on Monday and is expected to reach Puzhal lake on Tuesday. According to a PWD official, Krishna water was released from the Kandaleru dam in Andhra Pradesh at a rate of 2,000 cubic feet per second from December 27. The water entered zero point in Uthukottai at Tamil Nadu - Andhra Pradesh border at 10 am on Monday, the official added. “The water will reach Puzhal Lake at 10 am on Tuesday and will subsequently be released to provide drinking water to Chennai”, the official said.
As per the Telugu Ganga agreement entered between Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in 1996, Andhra Pradesh usually releases 12 tmc of Krishna water every year.

The water supply was stopped due to a dry Kandaleru dam on March 22. Following a bountiful Southwest monsoon, the dam was full and water has been released. Krishna water has to travel 152 km to reach the zero point, the official explained.