Lake levels deplete but ground water not alarmingly low

Chennai: The three-day consecutive rainfall have flooded city roads but failed to do any good to the four reservoirs of the city.  

Chennai reservoirs now hold a mere ten per cent of the storage capacity of what they noted on the same day last year.

The depletion of the water levels caused during the delay of North East Monsoon still persists, as cyclone Nada did not make a strong presence.

The city received rainfall of 11.5 cm at Meenambakkam and 6.6cm at Nungambakkam. The numbers have been grim at the prime lakes too: Chembarambakkam notes an average of 5cm; Poondi accounts 3cm, Cholavaram and Red hills records 0.7cm and 0.8cm respectively.

Poor rainfall has taken a toll on the storage capacity as the reservoirs are at ten per cent of what they had last year.  Compared with last year’s capacity of 6,561 mcft, the sub total of Poondi, Cholavaram and Red Hills on Sunday stood at 665 mcft.

Water managers are now pinning hopes on individual water sources, as the ground water level depletion is not alarming. According to hydrologist, J. Saravanan, ground water is at ten meters depth, against the usual two – five meters witnessed in this period.  

“Ground water is varying at five to ten meters depth, indicating depletion, though not at an alarming state. As deficiency in rainfall will reflect on water supply — public and individual sources, individuals should adopt rain water harvesting,” he added.