Chief Minister Jayalalithaa has given the nod for the construction of a Rs. 330-crore drinking water reservoir in Tiruvallur district to cater to the requirements of Chennai.
The proposed reservoir will, through filling twice, be able to store one thousand million cubic feet (TMC). It will combine two tanks in Kannan Kottai and Thervai Kandigai villages of Gummidipoondi taluk.
A total of 1,252.47 acres of land, including 560.05 acres of government land, will be acquired.
The project will be completed in two years, according to an official release issued on Tuesday.
Earthen bund
The reservoir will have an earthen bund of 6.8 km. It has been planned to form a 7.5-km-long canal that will branch off at 900 metres from Zero Point (Andhra Pradesh–Tamil Nadu border) of the Kandaleru–Poondi Canal [which conveys Krishna water].
The proposed canal will traverse through Tamaraikuppam, Chenji, Agaram and Pallikuppam villages, besides the Pallikuppam reserve forest.
Its design will be such that the canal will also capture water from the catchment in Andhra Pradesh. There will be regulators to regulate the flow.
The preparation of the proposal for the new reservoir was based on the instruction of the Chief Minister to store surplus water during rainy season and from the Krishna water supply project.
The government had already announced that the existing capacity of Chennai reservoirs would be increased by 4.2 TMC at a total cost of Rs. 1,851 crore.
In addition to Thervai Kandigai, it had been planned to form two reservoirs in Thirukandalam and Ramanjeri with a capacity of 1 TMC each.
In December, the State government issued an order, according administrative sanction for Rs. 130 crore for increasing the storage of the Cholavaram, Aynamapakkam, Porur and Nemam tanks by 568 million cubic feet.
