Chennai:
Chennai
Metro Water is now planning to tap the acquifer in Kosasthaliyar river
basin to supply additional 10 MLD of water to the city.
It
is learnt that a tender worth Rs 78 lakh has been floated to construct
10 bore-wells to tap water from the acquifer in the river, which is one
of the three rivers that flow in the Chennai Metropolitan Area.
This
comes as reservoirs in Red Hills and Cholavaram have dried up. Poondi
(20 million cubic feet) and Chembarambakkam (85mcft) are also on the
verge of drying.
Chennai Metro Water sources told Express that they would be tapping the water only for a short period.
Interestingly,
Metro water is now trying to identify new sources of water to quench
the thirst as the existing sources are also getting depleted. “We have
utilised 50 per cent of water from the 22 stone quarries in
Sikkarayapuram,” said the Metro water official.
The
city is getting 30 million litres of water a day (MLD) from the
quarries which is supplied to Mylapore, Aminjikarai, K K Nagar,
Valasaravakkam and parts of South Chennai. This is likely to last till
the next 50 days. Even the supply of 4MLD water from Porur Lake would
not be able to last for a month.
We have tested the water in Eramaiyur quarries in Mudichur. It will soon be supplied to the city, he added.
Metro Water officials said that they have restricted the water supply to the city to 430MLD as rains remain elusive.
However,
there is hope in the form of inflow from Cauvery to Mettur Dam. “The
inflow is 6,843 cusecs a day. It is a good news. We hope once the water
reaches the required level we may get additional water in Veeranam
tank,” he said.
Interestingly,
a majority of water is also being supplied to the thermal power plants
in Chennai. “We can’t have dual crisis. We are ensuring that the power
stations are up and running,” he said.
Already
plans are there to provide treated sewage water for power plants but
the proposal is still being worked out. A thermal power station requires
about 3-5 litres of water to produce one unit of power.
The
official also said that a tender will be floated on August 31 for
setting up a 150MLD desalination plant. This desalination plant would be
funded by German funding agency KfW. Similarly, a 400MLD desalination
plant in Nemelli, which is financed by Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) is still being worked as Chennai Metro Water has to submit a revised detailed project report.
However,
the only solace for Metro Water to battle the drought is 180MLD of
water from the two desalination plants in Nemelli and Minjur. During the
water crisis in 2003-04, this was also not there and people were
dependent on trains to provide them with water.
With
the state expanding the metropolitan area till Arakonnam, the major
challenge would be to carry out an audit of water bodies till Arakonnam
and protect it from the preying eyes of realtors to ensure the city’s
water security is guaranteed for its growth or else the city will come
to a grinding halt.
Factfile:
1. Chennai has only 105 million cubic feet of water in its reservoirs. Tow of its reservoirs have totally dried up
2. A total of 50pc water from 22 stone quarries in Sikkarayapuram has already been consumed by the city.
3. Tender for a 150MLD desalination plant in Nemelli will be floated on August 31
4. The city has cut down its supply to 430MLD
5. City is likely to get 1,000 million litres of water from Eramaiyur stone quarries in Mudichur road.
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