Tamil Nadu seeks higher Krishna water flow from Andhra Pradesh to shore up Chennai reservoirs’ storage

A team of officials from the Water Resources Department (WRD) and Chennai Metrowater has sought an additional quantum of Krishna water to be released from Kandaleru reservoir to meet Chennai’s drinking water needs .

During a visit to Andhra Pradesh (A.P.) on Friday, the team visited the Kandaleru reservoir and held a meeting with officials of the Telugu Ganga project. A.P. officials assured the team that the discharge from Kandaleru reservoir would be gradually stepped up to 400 cubic feet per second (cusecs) from Saturday. They also agreed to initiate action against illegal pumping of Krishna water from the KP canal enroute.

Officials said the team of senior officials from WRD and Metrowater requested the authorities in the neighbouring State to ensure the release of 500 cusecs to Chennai to improve storage in key reservoirs, which now have only 48% of their total capacity. “We requested release of 500 cusecs of Krishna water till the end of August and continue supply till the onset of Northeast monsoon,” said an official.

Though the city has been receiving Krishna water since May 27, the inflow to the State border of Kandaleru-Poondi canal in Tiruvallur district has decreased to nearly 182 cubic feet per second (cusecs) as of Friday. This is further reduced to about 160 cusecs when it reaches the Poondi reservoir, where it is stored and distributed for drinking water supply.