WRD to enhance Poondi reservoir to increase storage

The city reservoirs received at least 43.5 TMC of rainfall during the last year monsoon, but most of the water was drained into the sea due to lack of adequate storage capacity, admit sources at Water Resources Department (WRD), adding that the water managers were able to save only 11 TMC of water.

However, the good news is that the Poondi reservoir which released around 30 TMC of water during the monsoon will now save an additional 2 TMC water in the future, thanks to a new project proposal.

“Unlike other years, we received intense rainfall last year and got a good amount of water. But as the city reservoirs did not have enough storage capacity, we were able to save only 11.5 TMC rainwater. And remaining 32 TMC were released from the dams. To save more rainwater in the coming days, we have submitted a proposal to enhance the storage capacity of Poondi reservoir,” said a senior WRD official.

The department is waiting for the approval from the government. After enhancing the reservoir, the department will be able to save additional 2 TMC water during the monsoon.

It may be noted that in March, the WRD resumed the desilting of Poondi reservoir to enable the water body to return to its original carrying capacity. “Accumulation of silt over the years had affected the capacity of the dam and the original plan was to remove silt upto 2 crore cubic metres. So far, only 78,300 cubic metre silt has been removed. The ongoing project will take 10 years to complete,” the official added.

Meanwhile, the water inflow from Krishna water to Chennai city reservoirs remains stable at 600 cusecs. At present, a total of 7.7 TMC water is stored in the dams and water is discharged for Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board.