CHENNAI: As reservoirs that supply water to Chennai are brimming, the release of Krishna water from Andhra Pradesh will be stopped by next week. Over 4 TMC (Thousand Million Cubic Feet) of water from Krishna was released into the city’s reservoirs this year.
The Kandaleru reservoir in Nellore district of AP augments the drinking water supply to Chennai. It had attained a record storage of 52.94 tmcft for the first time (in April 2020) since the launch of the Telugu Ganga canal system in 1996.
That is why, Chennai has been receiving its full quota of water from the neighbouring State. However, with the city’s reservoirs having a combined storage of over 9.5 TMC, couple of months after the rainfall has stopped, it has been decided to stop the release of Krishna water.
On Friday, the Kandaleru-Poondi canal in Tiruvallur received 407 cubic feet per second (cusecs) of Krishna water. This will gradually decrease and finally stop in a couple of days, an official from the PWD said.
Poondi currently has a storage level of 2700 Mcft as against its capacity of 3,231 Mcft. Besides Krishna water and catchment areas, the reservoir also received water from other sources in Andhra Pradesh, like Ammapalli dam across the Kosasthalaiyar River. Notably, last year the level was only 61 Mcft.
“The is sufficient water to quench city’s thirst for at least eight months. With the monsoon is set to arrive in a month, reservoirs will receive more water. Krishna water is not needed, at least this year,” the official said.