Water level in the Siruvani Dam, a major drinking water source for the city and some suburbs, is making an excruciatingly slow rise. Water overflowed from the dam on July 19 last year. But, it had not touched even the halfway mark of 25 ft (full reservoir level is nearly 51 ft) on Sunday (July 25).
Torrential rain led to one more overflow in August last year. But, the rainfall this year has been very moderate so far. Since July 16, the dam recorded rainfall ranging from 11 mm to 42 mm. Last year, the corresponding period recorded 105 mm to 190 mm.
Mayor R. Venkatachalam said on Sunday that the dam recorded 20 mm rain till 8.30 a.m. that day. “There was more rain during the day and there were also indications of heavy rain in the evening. Hopefully, the water level should rise on Monday,” he said.
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The Mayor said the Corporation was closely watching the water position in the Siruvani Dam. But, there was no reason for concern at the moment. The South West Monsoon was not over yet and the indications of heavy rain only offered the hope that the dam would get more water.
Referring to a few bursts of heavy rain over the last week, Assistant Executive Engineer of the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board S. Sampath Kumar said that if the monsoon turned vigorous the water level could rise faster in the coming days. But, even if there was an overflow only during the North East Monsoon, the drinking water situation would still be comfortable.
Water from the upper reaches of the Siruvani Hills was flowing into the dam through all the falls, he said. Totally, 87 million litres were being drawn from the dam.
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While 72 million litres were being provided for the Coimbatore Corporation areas, the rest went to wayside habitations.