Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore   

Coimbatore sits pretty as dams are full

K.V. Prasad

Siruvani overflowed on Tuesday; earliest in the last 11 years

COIMBATORE: For the third successive year, water overflowed on Tuesday from the Siruvani Dam (a major drinking water source) with heavy rain lashing the catchment in neighbouring Kerala. This is the earliest in the last 11 years.

Rain in catchment

This year it has happened much ahead of the schedule of surplus - first week of September. But it is as predicted by the Corporation because of the torrential rain in the catchment that compensated for a fortnight's break the South West monsoon took.

Early setting in of the monsoon (in the third week of May) is also cited as reason for the early surplus.

After the annual overflow up to 1999, monsoon failure denied a surplus up to 2003. Good times returned in May 2004 and the dam filled up to the full reservoir level (FRL) of 67.44 ft in August.

The dam filled up in 2005 also (in mid-August). It has happened a month earlier this year.

Surplus water also overflows from the Pilloor Dam, source for another drinking water scheme. Water level crossed the brim on Monday for the second time this year.

The earlier instance was on May 29.

The Siruvani scheme supplies 101 million litres a day (mld) of drinking water, of which 87 mld is for one half of the city and the rest for municipalities and town panchayats south and west of the city.

Pilloor scheme

The Pilloor scheme supplies 125 mld, of which 65 mld is for the other half of the city. The rest is for 22 town panchayats and 543 village panchyats.

Coimbatore's water managers breathe easy only when surplus water overflows from the Siruvani Dam because it hit dead storage in 2002 and 2003.

The Pilloor Dam always had water throughout the year and even compensated for shortage in Siruvani-served areas. Both schemes provide more than 130 litres per capita per day (lpcd) though the World Health Organisation norms demand 110 lpcd.

Yet, with fast economic development and the consequent population increase, three more schemes for the city and the suburbs are to be implemented to meet the growing demand for drinking water.

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