Chennai began receiving higher flows of Krishna water from Andhra Pradesh on Monday to help offset low storage in city reservoirs after weak Southwest Monsoon rainfall.
The inflow at the Kandaleru-Poondi canal entry point in Uthukottai reached nearly 390 cubic feet per second on Monday. This marked the highest volume in the current period. The water originates from Kandaleru reservoir in Andhra Pradesh and also serves Kalahasti, Rapur and Tirupati.
Tamil Nadu officials had recently visited Andhra Pradesh to request greater discharge. City reservoirs now hold 44.83 percent of their 11,757 million cubic feet capacity. Andhra Pradesh has assured a minimum release of 400 cusecs, which could add 1,000 million cubic feet to storage within a month if sustained.
Chennai has already received about 1,450 million cubic feet of Krishna water since releases began on May 27. Andhra Pradesh authorities have confirmed supply will continue from the reservoir, currently at 30 percent capacity, until the Northeast Monsoon arrives in October. Daily water supply to the city is expected to remain steady through the end of the year.
