COIMBATORE: Water level in the Siruvani Dam has come down by more than three feet in three days. It was a little more than 36 ft (against the full reservoir level of 67.44 ft) around last Saturday. With two of the three intake nozzles visible, the city and the suburbs dependent on the dam for drinking water are perturbed. Water managers, however, do not foresee any scarcity but fervently pray that the South West Monsoon should not be delayed this year.

The level on Monday was 35.69 ft. It was 39.38 ft on May 2. The fall in the level by nearly four feet has led to the supply to the city being reduced from over 70 million litres a day (mld) to a little more than 68 mld.

But, the water managers in the Coimbatore Corporation are confident of averting scarcity this summer. They are optimistic that the monsoon will set in the first week of June over the catchment in neighbouring Kerala. The dam recorded five mm rain on two consecutive days last week during a heavy downpour in the Mannarkad region in Kerala.

The Corporation is not worried over the present situation though any sharp decrease hereafter will bring the level down to dead storage. The situation had not been any different last year. Only the summer of 2004 experienced good rain owing to a low pressure and unusually heavy summer showers.

Therefore, the alarm bells are not ringing yet over the water situation.

The Corporation maintains the alternate day supply it resorted to in June 2000. Only the next year, it was forced to make the supply once in four days until the monsoon arrived. Some suburbs are still suffering erratic supply - it ranges from once in four days to six days.

This year, there is some hope of the monsoon setting in earlier than predicted. If this happens, things will look up even before the first week of June.

The Corporation is not worried also because it has a contingency measure in place; established during the scarcity in 2002 and 2003.

If the monsoon is delayed, the civic body has the option of diverting water from the Pilloor line through a link with the Siruvani over head tank in Sivananda Colony. Though not being contemplated now, there is the option of reducing the supply of drinking water and providing more bore well water for purposes other than cooking and drinking.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail