With Kandaleru reservoir receiving a steady inflow, Krishna water was released for Chennai's water needs on Wednesday morning.
Telugu Ganga Project (TGP) Chief Engineer R.Muralinath Reddy formally released water from the Kandeluru reservoir around 10.30 am, where the storage went up to 12.28 tmcft on Tuesday. Officials from Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department (WRD) and Chennai Metrowater were also present.
“Initially, 500 cusecs will be released. The discharge will be scaled up to 2,000 cusecs gradually after assessing the canal carrying capacity and for any breaches en route,” explained TGP Superintending Engineer K. Harinarayana Reddy.
Officials of Tamil Nadu WRD said the volume of discharge from the reservoir would be stepped up to 2,000 cusecs by Wednesday evening. Water would reach Poondi reservoir, which is the storage point of Krishna water in five or six days through Kandaleru Poondi canal.
Kandaleru reservoir now has a storage of 12.8 thousand million cubic feet. The release of Krishna water is significant to improve the storage in Chennai's dry reservoirs and water supply.
It may be recalled that Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S.Jaganmohan Reddy had promised to release eight tmcft of Krishna water during a recent meeting with delegation from Tamil Nadu.
