The bad start the southwest monsoon had this year continues as the water position in the Siruvani Dam is not what it ought to be. At 867.55 m on Wednesday, the water level is at least 27 feet short of what it was last year.
This difference in water level has had an impact on the residents of 35 wards of the Coimbatore Corporation, which are Siruvani-fed. The Corporation has altered the water supply cycle in these areas to suit the current situation.
Areas that received water on alternate days are now getting Siruvani water once in four to five days. The Corporation has also cut down the water supply time. For instance, in R.S. Puram the civic body has almost halved the supply time.
But rains in the past few days seem to have given the Corporation some hope. According to sources, the recent rains have helped improve the water supply situation. S. Sampath Kumar, Assistant Executive Engineer, Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board, says that the water level rose by nearly a metre.
On August 7, the catchment areas and the Dam received heavy rain – 117 mm – and this saw the level shoot up by 70 cm.
He says that as of Wednesday evening, the rains continued to pound the areas. By Thursday morning the water supply engineers can expect a similar drastic increase in the water level, he adds.
A Corporation source says that assuming that there are no further rains and no increase in the Siruvani level, the Corporation with the current level in the Siruvani Dam will be able to supply water till September 30.
And if at all there has to be a problem, only 21 wards in the old city area, which are purely Siruvani dependent and two wards in the added area, are likely to be affected.
However that is unlikely because the Corporation has the 30 mld (million litres a day) from the Pilloor dedicated drinking water supply scheme to fall back upon.
The scheme will be fully operated in the next couple of months and then the city will get the planned capacity of around 65 mld.
To add to the water management efforts, the Corporation has now planned to link the Pilloor main storage tank in Ramakrishnapuram with the Siruvani main storage reservoir on Bharati Park Road. Once that is done the Corporation will be able to pump water from one to the other to meet the water needs of the city.
No ban on sinking borewell
Corporation sources say there is no ban on sinking borewell as the situation is not that bad. The Corporation itself had planned to sink nearly 100 borewell, with a majority of them in the added areas. In fact, the civic body is in the process of sinking the borewells.
