The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Proximity to rivers spells flooding in some areas

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Friday, Nov 28, 2008
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Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Proximity to rivers spells flooding in some areas

K.Lakshmi

Surplus water from Chembarambakkam released into the Adyar river

— Photo: K.Pichumani

FULL FLOW: Water gushing out after the shutters were opened at Chembarambakkam reservoir on Thursday.

CHENNAI: With the water level in the Chembarambakkam reservoir reaching its full capacity, the surplus water was released into the Adyar river on Thursday morning. This led to flooding in many areas, including Vazhudalambedu, Manapakkam, Cowl Bazaar and Nandambakkam, located downstream .

Water gushed out after the shutters opened from the reservoir that was filled up to its maximum level of 22 ft.

The officials of Water Resources Department said the reservoir received a heavy inflow of 15,000 cubic feet per second of water (cusecs) from its catchment areas. As the inflow continued to increase due to rains throughout the day, the discharge into the Adyar River had to be stepped up from 10,000 cusecs to about 15,000 cusecs by Thursday evening.

However, the gradual decrease in rainfall led to decline in inflow to 9,410 cusecs by 10 p.m. But, the officials said the same amount of water was being released to stabilise the storage position.

The storage capacity stood at about 3,200 million cubic feet (mcft) as against the full capacity of 3,625 mcft, the officials said.

Hundreds of people from neighbouring areas flocked to view the surplus water let out through 19 of the 24 shutters on Thursday morning at 10 a.m. Police personnel were deployed in various spots and the neighbourhood of the reservoir resembled more of a picnic spot with several residents thronging the area, braving the heavy rains.

Several houses in areas downstream of the reservoir in Moulivakkam, Porur and Kovur were covered under sheets of water as the discharge from Chembarambakkam reservoir was gradually stepped up. Some of the areas affected include Jafferkhanpet, Saidapet and Adyar.

The WRD officials said Poondi, another major city reservoir, was also fast filling up with the level touching a height of 33.02 ft as against its maximum height of 35 ft on Thursday. The reservoir received an inflow of about 5,540 cusecs and the storage level has touched about 2,670 against the total of 3,231 mcft.

The increasing water level is being closely monitored. If the inflow increase, the shutters of Poondi reservoir will be opened on Friday morning, an official said. However, the other two reservoirs — Red Hills and Cholavaram — still had sufficient spare capacity. The storage capacity of Red Hills reservoir was 2,420 mcft as against full capacity of 3,300 mcft.

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