Storage not enough for raising daily supply

By T. Ramakrishnan

CHENNAI, NOV. 6. Seasonal rains over Chennai may have resulted in a ``moderate rise'' in levels in the city reservoirs but water managers feel that the ``threshold limits'' for increasing the daily supply are yet to be reached.

In the last three weeks since the advent of the northeast monsoon, the combined storage of the Red Hills, Sholavaram and Satyamurthi Sagar in Poondi went up by nearly one tmcft. However, the present storage of 1.6 tmcft is not enough for Metrowater to revert even to the supply quantum of last year.

During 2000, the average supply was 250 million litres a day (MLD). To achieve this in 2002, the storage should be at least 3.5 to 4 tmcft as on January 1. This means the reservoirs should register a minimum two tmcft increase in the next two months. At present, the supply is 130 MLD.

Meanwhile, the authorities have initiated steps for utilising small irrigation tanks on the city fringes for supplementing the supply. Already, Rettai Eri at Madhavaram is supplying nine MLD to Chennai residents. The Korattur and Ambattur tanks have been identified for a similar purpose.

The PWD has started raising the bunds of these lakes to increase the storage. Work on Rettai Eri and Ambattur is nearing completion.

Already, Chembarampakkam, one of the biggest tanks in this part of the State, is being used for city supply. Although the Government has permitted Metrowater to draw water from this source, it has not officially made it available for Chennai. The tank's ayacut area used to be about 7,500 hectares. But, owing to rapid urbanisation, it has shrunk to less than a quarter of the original size.

In the last five years, the tank overflowed in three years and a heavy quantum of water went waste. City residents have been demanding that the Government complete all formalities for making this tank another drinking water source.

``Chembarampakkam is certainly a better option than distant sources such as Veeranam. It is not known why the Government is procrastinating in this matter'', says a water expert.

World Bank praise

Even as Metrowater is treading carefully, its drought management has earned appreciation from a team of World Bank officials, which wrapped up its discussion with the Government on Tuesday after a week-long stay.

One factor responsible for Metrowater's ``better management'' is that the utility deployed Neyveli water for institutional buyers such as hotels, hospitals and Housing Board tenements. ``By this way, we have been able to reduce the number of complaints'', says an official.

The supply from the Neyveli source stopped about 10 days ago. Besides, Metrowater suspended the drawal from open wells and other groundwater sources in Tiruvallur and Kancheepuram districts except well fields and surrounding locations.

``Because of rains in the last two-three weeks, we have resorted to this move. More importantly, Metrowater has been able to effect a saving of nearly Rs. 45 lakhs a day'', the official points out. Now, the agency incurs around Rs. 15 lakhs a day for drawing water from the existing sources.

As for the revised Veeranam scheme, which envisages providing 180 MLD to the city, Metrowater has lined up credit with the funding agencies. However, it is yet to complete the process of bid documentation. ``During this month, we hope to finish the exercise and float the tenders'', says the official.

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