: With the storage in the Poondi reservoir reaching almost its capacity, water received from Kandaleru reservoir in Andhra Pradesh is being diverted to the Cholavaram reservoir. Officials of the Water Resources Department said that about 580 cubic feet per second (cusecs) of water realised at the entry point in Uthukottai is being released into Kosasthalaiyar River through a shutter at Rajanodai on Kandaleru-Poondi canal. This, in turn, is diverted to the Cholavaram reservoir. (One cusec is equal to 28.31 litres).
The combined storage at the four reservoirs, from where the supply for the city is drawn, stood at 7,730 million cubic feet (mcft) on Monday. The inflow into the Poondi reservoir has reduced and nearly 1,000 cusecs received from catchment areas is diverted to waterbodies in Red Hills and Chembarambakkam, which have spare capacity of almost 2,600 mcft, an official said.
Officials of Chennai Metrowater said that with the available resources in the reservoirs, the city could be supplied water till November next year. At present, the water agency is supplying about 670 million litres a day to the city.
Moreover, the storage at Veeranam lake, which augments the city's supply, is also increasing steadily. “We have received nearly 2,200 mcft of Krishna water from Andhra Pradesh since October 7. The northeast monsoon has added 2,400 mcft to the storage in reservoirs, which is sufficient to cater to the city's demand for four months,” an official said.
More showers expected
Meanwhile, the early morning showers on Monday resulted in traffic snarls owing to water-logging in many areas, including Mahalingapuram, Guindy, Villivakkam, Koyambedu, T.Nagar and Nandanam. The entire stretch of North Usman Road, roads in and around Pondy Bazaar and the Mahalingapuram High Road were inundated. The cascading effect was traffic pile up till the Teynampet junction on Anna Salai. Traffic on the intersections of Tirumalai Pillai Road and Pondy Bazaar suffered for almost an hour. Traffic police personnel on the stretch said there was increase in traffic as those motorists who took cover under trees to avoid rain also joined the regular traffic.
Meteorological officials said Nungambakkam received 2 cm and Meenambakkam 1.7 cm of rainfall during the 24-hour period ending 8.30 a.m. on Monday. The observatory at Nungambakkam has received 131 cm of rainfall so far this year, which is 9 cm more than the annual average rainfall. Meenambakkam has received 118 cm so far against its annual average rainfall of 132 cm. The department forecast rain or thundershowers for the next two days.
