The declining storage in the city’s reservoirs may soon get a boost. Krishna water is on its way to provide a much-needed fillip to the city’s major waterbodies.
On Monday, Krishna water was released into the 152 km-long Kandaleru Poondi (KP) Canal that brings water to the State’s entry point at Uthukottai, in Tiruvallur district. About 500 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water was discharged from the Kandaleru reservoir in Andhra Pradesh around 9.30 a.m.
Officials of the Water Resources Department noted that Krishna water was likely to reach the State border of the KP Canal by June 16. It would have to travel another 25 km to reach the Poondi reservoir, where it would be stored and distributed to the city.
“We expect the quantity of the water discharge to be increased steadily to enable a minimum of 500 cusecs to be realised at KP Canal’s entry point into the State. Andhra Pradesh authorities have assured that they would continue the supply for the next spell that will begin in July. The Kandaleru reservoir has a sufficient storage of 43,000 million cubic feet (mcft),” an official said.
The department had recently requested the Andhra Pradesh government to resume discharge of Krishna water to step up the fast-depleting storage in the city’s reservoirs, particularly Poondi reservoir.
On Monday, the combined storage of the five reservoirs was nearly 57% of their capacity of 11,757 mcft.
It may be recalled that the city was provided with 8,158 mcft of Krishna water in 2020-21. “Water flowing into the Poondi reservoir till this month-end will be accounted for this water year. This will be one of the highest amounts of Krishna water received in recent years,” the official added. The department would also halt renovation of the vulnerable stretches of the KP Canal to facilitate the flow of water.
At present, the city and merged areas are being supplied with nearly 845 million litres a day. With Metrowater mulling over a further increase in drinking water supply to cater to more merged areas, Krishna water is expected to help fulfil the growing demand.
