CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu is likely to persuade Andhra Pradesh to start release of Krishna water at the earliest at a meeting of the high-level Liaison Committee, scheduled for Monday here.

Under the 1983 bilateral agreement, Tamil Nadu is to get eight thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) during July-October and four tmcft from January to April every year.

The State's share is 15 tmcft, of which three tmcft is deducted as transmission loss.

Though the storage in Chennai reservoirs is quite comfortable, water managers feel that the State should secure its share of Krishna water for the year so that the supply can be maintained without hassles. Chennai Metorwater supplies 640 million litres a day (MLD), which includes the quantum for industries and bulk consumers.

Given the "unpredictable nature" of the northeast monsoon, it is better to keep the reservoirs filled with Krishna water.

At present, the combined storage of the city reservoirs — Red Hills, Cholavaram and Satyamurti Sagar at Poondi — is around 2.7 tmcft.

The Chembarampakkam tank, which supplements the city supply, has a storage of around 1.6 tmcft.

Enough water

What is comforting to the two States is that there is more than enough water in the Kandaleru reservoir, the terminal storage point in Andhra Pradesh.

About 27 tmcft of water is available in the reservoir. The authorities can release water at the rate of even 1,000 cusecs from the beginning, a scenario not witnessed in the past.

Other issues likely to figure at the meeting are the completion of repair works in the Andhra Pradesh portion of the Telugu Ganga Canal and raising the capacity of the Somasila and Kandaleru reservoirs.

The authorities have been carrying out lining of the canal.

Andhra Pradesh has proposed to raise the storage of Somasila to 78 tmcft and of Kandaleru to 59 tmcft in a phased manner.

The Liaison Committee, comprising Chief Secretaries of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, includes Secretaries of Irrigation/Public Work Department of the two States, chief engineers and water experts.

Sources say that the committee meets after a gap of four years.

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