Canal desilting stepped up in Chennai as resumption of Krishna water supply gets delayed

With the resumption of Krishna water supply to Chennai delayed, the Water Resources Department (WRD) has stepped up desilting and cleaning of the Kandaleru-Poondi canal and other minor channels linking major reservoirs, ahead of the Northeast monsoon.

The supply of Krishna water from the Kandaleru reservoir in Andhra Pradesh was halted last month due to inadequate storage in A.P. reservoirs. Poondi reservoir, which is the prime storage point of Krishna water, received nearly 2,250 million cubic feet of water, between July and September this year.

With the KP canal bed now almost dry, the WRD has taken up desilting at vulnerable portions of the 25-km long canal, which carries water from the entry point at Uthukottai in Tiruvallur district to Poondi reservoir. “We decided to make use of the halt in Krishna water flow to step up maintenance and monsoon preparedness works. This will improve free flow of water by a minimum of 10% in the canal,” said an official.

The works, being carried out at a cost of ₹99 lakh, are part of the Northeast monsoon preparedness measures.

Officials said silt deposits and vegetation obstructing the water flow are being removed in vulnerable portions of the KP canal near Uthukottai. Portions of the canal bank that were eroded during heavy rainfall last year would also be strengthened.

Similarly, work is under way to clear vegetation from the 25 km-long Link canal, which connects the reservoirs in Poondi and Chembarambakkam. Desilting of the channel was done until earlier this week. However, further work has been stopped as water is now being released from Poondi reservoir to other water bodies in Chembarambakkam and Red Hills to boost their storage.

Work is also simultaneously implemented in two reaches of Feeder canal that carries water to Red Hills reservoir. “Nearly 70% of the work has been completed so far. We will continue clearing floating waste and vegetation from the channels until the end of the NE monsoon,” said an official. The WRD has suspended improvement works on portions of the KP canal and Feeder canal owing to ensuing monsoon and plans to resume work in January.