As the water level rose up by another 4.39 feet to touch 28.5 feet mark in Siruvani Reservoir in the 24 hours that ended 8 a.m. Wednesday, the question of how much storage will the Kerala Government allow has resurfaced.
In the 24 hours, the Reservoir’s catchment received 200mm rainfall and the Siruvani foothills 98mm.
Tuesday's 8 a.m. reading for the preceding 24 hours showed that the catchment had received 300mm rainfall, taking the water level to 24.11 feet. The full reservoir level is 49.50 feet. The water level rising drastically in two days has led the question – will the Kerala Government allow the water level to touch the full reservoir level or will it, as it did in 2019, restrict the water level to 44.50 feet.
Following floods in the State a couple of years ago, the Government decided to reduce the water storage level all its reservoirs and the decision led to a reduction of around five feet in storage level in the Siruvani Reservoir.
As a result, the water level did not surpass the 44.50 feet mark in 2019 even though the South West Monsoon was good in the catchment. The reduction in water storage level saw the Coimbatore city teeter on the brink in April-May this year as the water level almost touched the dead storage level.
The city’s water managers said had the Government let the water level touch the full reservoir level, they would have had water to cater to the city's needs till June or perhaps the first week of July.
The Tamil Nadu Water Supply and Drainage Board draws water from the Reservoir and gives it to the Coimbatore Corporation that distributes the water to around 25 of the 100 wards. Now, given the rise in water level, there were formal and informal talks going on to ask the Kerala Government to let the water level touch the full reservoir level, the sources said.
The Tamil Nadu Government had written to the Kerala Government seeking restoration of the water storage level.
And, the informal talk too was going on to prevail upon the Government there. Sources familiar with the development said given the fact that Chief Ministers of the States had said that the inter-state differences would be resolved in friendly and cordial manner, a few persons from Tamil Nadu were in talks with Kerala politicians in this regard.
They said that the talk was on and that it would be premature and detrimental to reveal the details or progress as that could jeopardize the effort.
