Journalism of Courage
Authorities opened the gates of the Chembarambakkam reservoir, one of the vital sources of water supply for Chennai, for the first time in many years in the month of June to release water.
On Tuesday, the Public Works Department released water at 250 cubic feet per second from the Chembarambakkam reservoir as it was receiving copious inflow.
The persistent rain in the past few days has increased the water level in many reservoirs in Chennai and other neighbouring districts. After the spell of rain in the past few days, the storage level at the Chembarambakkam reservoir on Tuesday reached 3,509 million cubic feet (mcf) against its full capacity of 3,645 mcf. The storage the last year in the same month was 2,680 mcf. The reservoir also reached 23.48 feet on Tuesday evening against its total capacity of 24 feet.
The combined storage capacity of reservoirs including Poondi, Cholavaram, Red Hills, and Kannankottai was 8,170 mcf on Tuesday. As the water level was fast filling up, the authorities had stopped diverting the Krishna water from Poondi reservoir to Chemberambakkam.
Due to the release of water from Chembarambakkam, a flood warning has been issued to the residents of neighbourhoods along the banks of the Adyar River. Authorities might increase the discharge of surplus water on Wednesday depending on the inflow of water.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted light to moderate rain in the upcoming days over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, and Karaikal areas. Till 5:30 am on Wednesday, Meenambakkam recorded 33 mm of rainfall, Nungambakkam 27.6 mm, Adirampattinam 22.0 mm, and Salem 15.0 mm.
The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) in Chennai on Tuesday noted that the sky condition is likely to be partly cloudy for the next two days. “Thunderstorm with Light / moderate rain is likely to occur in some areas. Maximum and minimum temperature is likely to be around 35˚C and 26-27˚C respectively,” said the RMC.
