Next time when the Chembarambakkam reservoir reaches its capacity, not all of the precious resource may be wasted. City water managers plan to divert the surplus water and store it in abandoned quarries in Sikkarayapuram.
A team of officials from the Kancheepuram Collectorate, the Commissionerate of Revenue Administration and Chennai Metrowater recently inspected the site. It was decided that the surplus water from Chembarambakkam reservoir, usually let into the Adyar river, would be diverted to the quarries in Sikkarayapuram, which is located 4 km away from the waterbody.
At present, the reservoir has a storage of 222 million cubic feet against the capacity of 3,645 mcft. Whenever the water level reaches its optimum of 22 feet, surplus water is released into Adyar river, resulting in flooding of areas downstream of the reservoir, including Vazhuvankadu and Sirukalathur. Now, Metrowater proposes to repair the surplus channel at Kundrathur to carry excess water from Chembarambakkam to the quarries in Sikkarayapuram. Sources in Metrowater said about 500 mcft of water can be stored in the 22 quarries.
About 30 mld is being drawn from these quarries now and supplied after treatment. As the recent spell of rain added some inflow, the Chembarambakkam and Red Hills reservoirs now supply up to 100 million litres a day.
With the available resources, Metrowater plans to manage the present water supply at 470 mld till the onset of the northeast monsoon in October-end.
