The Poondi reservoir will continue to receive about 550 cusecs of Krishna water from Andhra Pradesh till the month-end.
Like in previous years, Krishna water has helped increase the storage in the four reservoirs that serve the city. Though the lakes received some inflows from rains in early December, rainfall during this northeast monsoon has not helped fill them.
The four reservoirs are now at 49% of their capacity. On Monday, the combined storage of the reservoirs stood at 5,535 million cubic feet against their capacity of 11,257 mcft. Chennai’s water needs could be met till the next southwest monsoon with the available resources, officials said.
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Inspection carried out
A team of Water Resources Department officials headed by K. Ashokan, Chief Engineer, Chennai region and executive engineer C. Podupani Thilagam, Kosasthalaiyar division, inspected the lake on Monday.
The officials also checked the maintenance of the link canal carrying water to Chembarambakkam and Red Hills lakes, and the Kandaleru-Poondi canal.
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The Poondi reservoir continues to receive an inflow of 543 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of Krishna water. Officials said the storage in the lake has also been on the rise. “We have received 3,607 mcft of Krishna water since September-end. It helped to build storage in other lakes and also maintain water supply to Chennai. This time, the city has so far received high inflow during a single spell compared to the past three years,” said an official.
Chennai had received 1,983 mcft of Krishna water during 2018-19. Mr. Asokan has instructed officials to fence the portion of the Kandaleru-Poondi canal joining the Poondi reservoir to prevent people from entering the canal.