Rain has been pounding Siruvani catchment in the last three days and the highest thus far in this South West Monsoon season was on Sunday.
Data available with the Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board and the Coimbatore Corporation shows that in the 24 hours that ended 8 a.m. Monday, the Siruvani catchment received around 255 mm rainfall and the Siruvani foothills 34 mm.
On Saturday, the rainfall in the catchment was 75 mm and foothills 11 mm and on Friday, it was 92 mm in the catchment and 17mm in the foothills.
Good rain over the last three days has helped push the water level in the Siruvani Reservoir well past the 20 feet mark to 23.22 feet. The full reservoir level is 49.50 feet.
The increase in water level has had a cascading effect in the Board supplying water to the city in that the supply on Sunday stood at 35.50 million litres per day (MLD).
Until a few weeks ago, the Board had been supplying around 20 MLD and this increased supply is expected to ease the water distribution pressure on the Corporation to some extent.
Staff Reporter from Udhagamandalam adds
With heavy rain lashing most parts of the Nilgiris since Sunday, the district administration announced the closure of educational institutions in Kundah, Gudalur and Pandalur taluks on Monday.
The administration stated that more than 673 mm rainfall was recorded across the district since Sunday, with Avalanche receiving 211 mm rainfall. Gudalur and Devala received 74 mm and 62 mm respectively, while more than 70 mm was recorded in Naduvattam.
Officials said that the rain uprooted trees along Udhagamandalam to Gudalur Road in two places, leading to traffic disruption.
Moreover, Pandiyar River and the streams flowing into the main river in O-Valley, Gudalur, had been in spate since Sunday, following which police and fire and rescue services personnel had been put on high alert. It was ensured that the communities living by the river did not face any threat of flooding, the officials said.
Tangedco officials said that if the rain continued for the coming days, water levels in the Emerald, Avalanche, Parsons Valley, Kundah and Pykara dams would rise, easing the water crisis that seemed inevitable in the district due to the lack of rain till last week.
