For the first time in many years, the shutters of Chembarambakkam reservoir were opened in June on Tuesday noon to release water. Meanwhile, the Meteorological department has forecast scattered rains would continue over the State and light to moderate rains may occur in the city too on Wednesday.
With the reservoir getting heavy inflow from catchment areas following the downpour, about 250 cusecs (cubic feet per second) was discharged into the Adyar river from the reservoir. The water level touched 23.48 feet against its full level of 24 feet on Tuesday and the storage had reached 3,509 million cubic feet against its capacity of 3,645 mcft.
Officials of the Water Resources Department said the water discharge was planned as a precautionary measure as the reservoir received rainfall runoff from upstream areas like Thandalam, Nemam and Sriperumbudur. A minimal amount of water would be released as Southwest monsoon rainfall is expected to continue over the city.
“We stopped diverting Krishna water from Poondi reservoir to Chembarambakkam two days ago as the water body was fast filling up. Moreover, it had recorded nearly 10 cm of rains in two days,” said an official. The reservoir already had good storage due to adequate rainfall in the previous monsoon and steady inflow of Krishna water for the past few months.
Officials recalled that the city had previously received such intense rain of nearly 35 cm on June 14, 1996. However, the shutter gates of the reservoir were not opened then. Kancheepuram district collector M.Aarthi was present during the release of water from the lake. Flood warning has been issued to areas downstream including Kundrathur, Tiruneermalai, Thirumudivakkam and low level areas along the Adyar river.
The WRD officials plan to hold a discussion in a few days on seeking suspension of Krishna water from Andhra Pradesh as the reservoirs are fast filling up ahead of the Northeast monsoon. The city has realised nearly 2,178 mcft of Krishna water since May 8.
Meanwhile, rains continued on Tuesday too and places like Meenambakkam (2 cm), Tiruttani (1 cm), Nandanam, MRC Nagar and Taramani received light rains till 5.30 p.m. S. Balachandran, Deputy Director General of Meteorology, Chennai, said a trough at lower level of atmosphere, presence of moisture content and strengthening westerlies triggered evening thunderstorms in the city.
Thunderstorms formed from other parts like south Karnataka and Vellore and were pushed towards the coastal parts. Rains for the past few days had led to a dip in day temperature to 34.9 degree Celsius in the city and also bridged the rain deficit, he said. The Chennai district has recorded a rainfall of 12.3 cm of rainfall against its normal of 4.3 cm since June 1.
