Water from Veeranam tank in Cuddalore district may be drawn in a couple of days to meet the city’s drinking water needs.
Since Thursday night, the tank, located nearly 225 km from the city, started receiving a steady inflow of 2,200 cubic feet per second (cusecs) of Cauvery water from the Mettur dam in Salem district.
Officials of Water Resources Department (WRD) who visited the site on Friday said the water level in the tank was rising steadily. By 5 p.m., the storage had increased to 94 million cubic feet. The storage is expected to reach the full capacity of 1,456 mcft in a week.
ADVERTISEMENT
About 78 cusecs is expected to be drawn from the tank and sent through a 230-km pipeline to the Porur distribution station from where it will be linked to the existing water supply network. In a few days, nearly 180 million litres a day (mld) would be available for drinking water supply, an official said.
The water level in the tank has to be at 39.5 feet to enable drawal by Chennai Metrowater to pump water from at least one facility. At present, it has reached 40 feet against the full level of 47.5 ft.
Sources in Chennai Metrowater said once the water from Veeranam arrives in the city, the water agency would stop pumping groundwater sources in the Neyveli region.
ADVERTISEMENT
The resources from Veeranam tank would only be used to manage the existing supply of 550 mld on alternate days. A decision on resuming daily water supply will be taken only after the storage in the city’s four reservoirs improves.
As Veeranam tank has started receiving water, the project to desilt the water body and enhance its storage capacity by 200-250 mcft has been postponed to early next year, officials of WRD said.