Plan to draw water from Vayalur and Alapakkam to meet demand

City likely to get up to 4,000 mcft of water additionally

Existing facilities can be used to carry water to Porur lake for distribution.

In yet another plan to tap new sources to meet the growing water needs of Chennai, the Water Resources Department is proposing to draw water from Vayalur and Alapakkam in Kancheepuram district and bring it to the city through a pipeline.

Chennai could get an additional 4,000 million cubic feet (mcft) of drinking water to meet the ever-increasing demand if the ambitious proposal takes shape. The Department is already in the process of building check dams in seven places across Palar river.

Building check dams

As an extension of the project, it has now chalked out a proposal with the support of a private firm to draw water stored through check dams. Once the State government gives the nod, the check dam to be built in Vayalur would be converted into a barrage, which is a structure with gates built for the entire length of the river to divert water. Officials of the WRD said the sub-surface dyke would be built up to a depth of 30 feet to harness groundwater and prevent seawater intrusion at Vayalur, which is only three km away from the sea. The barrage would be built at a height of 2 m across the 1,265 metre-long river. There is also a proposal to construct a single-lane bridge over it. The work would be taken up as part of the second phase of the project.

Similarly, floodwater stored at the check dam to be built in Alapakkam village near Madurantakam would be tapped. The facility would have the capacity to store nearly 1,000 mcft, which is approximately 25,000 million litres.

The department proposes to provide pumping arrangements such as intake towers in both places and also lay a pipeline for a distance of about 80 km to carry water to the Chembarambakkam treatment plant. The project would be implemented along with Chennai Metrowater after the project is approved and decisions on cost-sharing are made.

However, officials of the Chennai Metrowater suggested that water drawn from these two places could be instead linked to a pipeline from Veeranam tank in Cuddalore district. The existing infrastructure could be used to transport water to Porur lake and be distributed to city.