Krishna water, to replenish the depleting resources in reservoirs of Chennai, was released from Kandaleru reservoir in Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday.
The water discharged into the Kandaleru-Poondi canal is expected to reach the inter-State border in Uthukottai by Thursday evening or Friday morning. The release followed discussions for over two months between the Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh governments. On Monday, a team of officials from Chennai visited Hyderabad.
According to officials of Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department, about 1,000 cubic feet of water per second (cusecs) was discharged from the Kandaleru reservoir around 6 a.m. on Tuesday.
The Andhra Pradesh government had already started releasing about 500 cusecs on Saturday to meet its irrigation and domestic water requirements. The flow to the city border would be faster as the canal bed is wet because water has travelled about 80 km up to Kalahasti.
The volume discharged into the canal would be stepped up to 1,500 cusecs by Wednesday morning to ensure adequate supply to the city despite drawal en route.
The Andhra Pradesh government has promised that nearly 3,000 million cubic feet would be provided in 40 days and that the quantum might be increased. The water was originally to be discharged between January and April.
“Since we had 10,000 mcft of water in four reservoirs in Poondi, Red Hills, Cholavaram and Chembarampakkam at the beginning of this year, we did not request for Krishna water then. Now, there is only 5,366 mcft and the supply from Andhra Pradesh will help boost storage,” said an official of WRD.
Chennai Metrowater officials said about 40 mcft of water is being drawn daily from the four waterbodies for city supply. If 3,000 mcft is received by the city, Metrowater would be able to sustain its present supply of 710 million litres a day for over two months.
