The Hindu : Front Page : Flood alert issued as Poondi reservoir nears capacity

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Nov 10, 2005

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Flood alert issued as Poondi reservoir nears capacity

T. Ramakrishnan

People living in low-lying areas along the Kosathalaiyar river being evacuated

CHENNAI: The Thiruvallur district administration on Wednesday issued a flood alert as the water level of Satyamurti Sagar in Poondi continued to rise. It was just three feet below capacity.

Situated across the Kosathalaiyar River, the Poondi reservoir received an inflow of 1,238 cubic feet per second (cusecs) on Wednesday morning.

"Officials of the Revenue and Public Works departments have started evacuating people living in low-lying areas along the river including those in Manali," Thiruvallur Collector Pankaj Kumar Bansal told The Hindu on Wednesday evening.

The river flows through Melsembedu, Valliyur, Tamaraipakkam, Jagannathapuram and Vallur before joining the sea at Ennore.

Usually, the floodgates are opened once the water level reaches three feet below the full level, especially in the early phase of the northeast monsoon. However, the danger level varies depending on the phase of the monsoon.

The local catchment area's contribution to the inflow into Poondi reservoir was about 715 cusecs.

Though the heavy rain that lashed the city and neighbouring areas appears to have receded, the authorities do not want to take chances.

The weather forecast still indicates rain over northern parts of the State.

Mr. Bansal said the administration had been kept in a state of preparedness.

Unlike in the case of the Ambattur lake (where encroachments on the flood course had to be removed) there is no problem in respect of the Kosasthalaiyar.

Rise in storage

In the past week the combined storage of the four reservoirs — Chembarampakkam, Red Hills, Cholavaram and Satyamurti Sagar at Poondi — went up by 2.6 thousand million cubic feet.

Excluding 350 mcft contributed by the Krishna river, the rest was a gift of the recent rain. This has enthused water managers who are now confident of meeting next year's water supply needs without any hitch.

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