With the five reservoirs brimming, residents of Chennai and its suburbs can look forward to a water-scarcity-free summer this year. According to sources in the Water Resources Department (WRD), due to the good Northeast monsoon, Poondi reservoir which caters to Chennai’s drinking water needs was flooded as well as over 20 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) water was discharged into the Krishna river.
Poondi, Red Hills (Puzhal lake), Cholavaram, Chembarambakkam, Veeranam and Thervoy Kandigai reservoirs have water over 90 percent of capacity. This will be enough to supply water to the city till December. According to a senior WRD official, the reservoirs currently contain 11tmcft of water out of 13.213 tmcft. The drinking water need for the city is 950 million liters per day (MLD). So, the 11tmcft of water is enough till December.
Residents, who check the TDS levels on a regular basis, noticed that the TDS value was 685 ppm on January 15, exceeding the maximum accepted value of 500. Water is supplied to these residents from Nemmeli desalination plant.
According to a resident of Valmiki Nagar, in the last week, water has also become salty. Four years ago, the TDS levels were within the acceptable limit.
The pipelines are corroded and need replacement. The water supplied is brown.
The Adyar zone consists of areas including Thiruvanmiyur, Besant Nagar and Velachery among others. Meera Ravikumar, who is a resident of Adyar, contesting independently in ward 173 said speeding cars are a common sight, endangering pedestrians and other commuters.
Source: The Indian Express
Photo courtesy: The Indian Express
