The inflow of Krishna water released from Andhra Pradesh has dipped steadily for the past four days. However, according to the Water Resources Department, this was only temporary and the inflow might be stepped up in 10 days or a fortnight.
On Monday, Tamil Nadu’s entry point of the Kandaleru-Poondi (K-P) canal at Uthukottai, Tiruvallur, received an inflow of nearly 175 cusecs (cubic feet per second). Krishna water, which was being released from the Kandaleru reservoir since the end of September, was a lifeline for Chennai’s water needs.
It played a pivotal role in boosting the storage of the Poondi and Red Hills reservoirs. Following the recent increase in storage, Metrowater had improved city water supply to 650 million litres per day.
‘Supply not stopped’
Officials of the WRD said the inflow of water from river Krishna would be maintained at the same level. The Andhra Pradesh authorities have not stopped water supply to Chennai. Water being diverted through branch canals were being used enroute to fill tanks in Nellore and Chittoor for irrigation.
“The discharge has been actually increased to 3,700 cusecs. But, we are receiving less as tanks are being filled for irrigation needs. Water discharge would improve in 10 or 15 days,” an official said.
Officials recalled that the entry point in K-P canal has received up to 840 cusecs this spell. “We have so far received about 2,200 million cubic feet of Krishna water so far. The Andhra government has promised to provide 8,000 mcft this time,” an official said.
The city reservoirs and Veeranam tank in Cuddalore now have a combined storage of 4,052 mcft. This would be enough to supply Chennai for five or six months, officials said. It could be recalled that the Poondi reservoir received about 400 mcft of Krishna water for a month since February. Chennai has received nearly 81,000 mcft of Krishna water since 1996, the official added.
