The Water Resources Department (WRD) has written to Andhra Pradesh authorities to postpone the release of Krishna water to April as all the major city reservoirs are nearly full. Chennai is normally due for a second spell of water release in January.
After a bountiful monsoon, the five reservoirs, including the Thervoy Kandigai Kannankottai reservoir, have a combined storage of 10,909 million cubic feet (mcft) of water, which is 92.79% of their total capacity.
The fifth reservoir at Thervoy Kandigai Kannankottai, created mainly to store Krishna water, is full. The Poondi reservoir, a prime storage point for Krishna water, continues to get 220 cusecs (cubic feet per second) as inflow from catchment areas.
‘No space’
“We do not have space to store additional water now. On an average, nearly 1,200-1,500 mcft is being drawn from the reservoirs every month to supply the city. So, we have written to the Andhra Pradesh officials to release water from the Kandaleru reservoir in April for summer needs,” an official said.
The city received nearly 4,479 mcft of Krishna water between July and September last year.
Slow progress
The WRD recently resumed work on a retaining wall and lining along the slope of the Kandaleru-Poondi canal at vulnerable portions. However, the ₹24-crore project is progressing slowly as the canal still has water flow.
“We plan to complete the work by March. Portions of the canal lining have slipped and hindered the flow. This work will ensure better flow of water and reduce siltation in the canal,” the official added.
Meanwhile, the WRD is also verifying accounts of project and maintenance cost received from Andhra Pradesh pertaining to the Krishna Water Supply Scheme.
The committee, including the WRD and the Finance Department, plans to finalise accounts verification and payment of ₹50 crore to the Andhra Pradesh Government soon.
The payment of cost would be done as per the Krishna Water Supply Project Agreement, officials added.
