Poondi reservoir, the prime water storage point for city, has been receiving a steady inflow of Krishna water from Andhra Pradesh for about five days now.
On Monday, the Tamil Nadu entry point of the Kandaleru Poondi canal, which carries Krishna water from Kandaleru reservoir in Andhra Pradesh, received about 330 cusecs of water. Of this, nearly 325 cusecs reached the Poondi reservoir through the 25-km KP canal.
This supply is crucial as most reservoirs supplying water to Chennai are nearly dry and the north-east monsoon is yet to set in. The water gushing from KP canal into Poondi reservoir has been attracting a large number of visitors. Some even fish in these waters.
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At present, the reservoir has a storage of about 140 million cubic feet of water against its capacity of 3,231 mcft. The water body in Poondi has so far received nearly 75 mcft of Krishna water. This is equal to three days of water supply to Chennai at the current rate of about 750-800 million litres a day.
More inflow expected
Officials of the Water Resources Department said the volume of discharge from Kandaleru reservoir is being steadily increased and is likely to go up to 1,000 cusecs. “Only a minimal volume is being diverted for the drinking water needs of Tirupati and Kalahasti. We are expecting the inflow into Poondi reservoir to increase to 500 cusecs by Tuesday or Wednesday,” said an official.
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However, only 70 cusecs is being released for city water supply as the water level is lower than the level of link canal, which carries water to other reservoirs. “Only when the water level raises in the reservoir, we can send the entire volume to the other water bodies,” said an official.
Meanwhile, the department is also carrying out improvement work on the bund of Poondi reservoir and link canal.