The prospects of major reservoirs in the Penna basin getting copious water for a second year in a row has brightened, thanks to floods in river Krishna during the early phase of the southwest monsoon.
The storage in Somasila and Kandaleru has started improving with both the reservoirs getting inflows from Krishna basin in August itself.
As a result, the storage in the reservoirs in the Penna basin is now a comfortable 160.56 tmcft as against 72.32 tmcft during the corresponding period last year, according to data compiled by the State government.
Inflows
Somasila reservoir, the lifeline of SPSR Nellore district, received an inflow of 10,648 cusecs on Friday. The discharge was maintained at 7,300 cusecs. With this, the storage improved to 53.58 tmcft of water (68.69%), leaving a flood cushion of 24.42 tmcft. The storage in Kandaleru reservoir also went up to 37.88 tmcft (55.68%) following an inflow of 4,300 cusecs. The reservoir still has a flood cushion of 30.15 tmcft now.
If the floods in river Krishna continued without a break, the reservoirs in the Penna basin would surplus in the next two months, sources in the Irrigation Department said.
As a result, the prospects of Chennai metropolis getting its full quota of Krishna water this year improved.
With the available storage, water release to Chennai is now being maintained at about 1,500 cusecs by the irrigation authorities, he said. After accounting for seepage and evaporation losses, over 750 cusecs of water gets added at the Poondi reservoir in neighbouring Tamil Nadu. “We will be able to release water to the metropolis without any hitch this year too,” Telugu Ganga Project Chief Engineer K. Harinarayana Reddy told The Hindu.
In the last 25 years, it was for the first time that Chennai realised 8.05 tmcft of water last year. It was a record of sorts. During the last water year, the Kandaleru Reservoir, which augments drinking water supply to, among other cities, Chennai and Tirupati, received a maximum of 65.144 tmcft from the Somasila Reservoir across the Penna river for the first time after its construction.
