The Hindu : Neyveli water to be tapped for Chennai

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 16, 2002

Southern States

Southern States - Tamil Nadu

Neyveli water to be tapped for Chennai

By T. Ramakrishnan

Chennai Oct. 15 . The Cauvery crisis has forced Metrowater to look at different options for making its Chennai Water Supply Augmentation Project-I sustainable. Water managers are examining the proposals to use Neyveli water and the Mayiladuturai aquifer for city supply. These options, the official agency feels, will provide the much-needed support in years when the Cauvery does not flow in Tamil Nadu.

Under CWSAP-I, the Veeranam lake, located at the tail-end of the Cauvery basin, is to be used as the source for supplying 180 million litres a day (MLD) to Chennai, particularly in summer. A scheme, totally costing Rs. 720 crores for treatment, conveyance and distribution, has been drawn up by Metrowater. Already, contracts for two packages were awarded and the process for the remaining four is likely to be completed soon. The AIADMK Government attaches high priority to the implementation of this project.

With the Karnataka Government not releasing Cauvery water even after the intervention by the Supreme Court and the Cauvery River Authority, inflows into the Mettur reservoir, main storage point, have been meagre. (The release from Mettur has to travel about 210 km to reach the Grand Anicut, 80 km to Lower Anicut and ultimately, 20 km to the Veeranam tank in Cuddalore district. Apart from this, during the northeast monsoon, the tank receives flows from its own catchment.) So, Metrowater has been compelled to explore the possibilities which may fetch water to Chennai. "We are contemplating tapping Neyveli water, which is considered perennial. Our engineers are working on a plan," says a senior Metrowater official. According to an estimate, 60 MLD is available for the city.

What enthuses the agency is that Neyveli is located on the route of the proposed pipeline and very close to a treatment plant to be constructed at Vadakuthu. "Being clean groundwater, it need not be treated. Even if some consider that treatment has to be done, it will also be possible," the official points out. Also, the water agency recently received a suggestion from certain quarters that the Mayiladuturai aquifer can also be tapped. "It is only an idea that we have got. An in-depth study has to be made to ascertain how much water is available there and how it can be drawn for Chennai," the official notes.

Though the viability of the Veeranam scheme has been questioned by many, the Government's stand is that it can alleviate water scarcity in Chennai. In fact, in the peak of the water crisis last year, the Chief Minister, Jayalalithaa, went on record saying that had the scheme, proposed during her previous tenure (1991-96) been implemented by the DMK regime, the city would not have experienced the problem in 2001.

For water experts, the present Metrowater efforts come as no surprise. For, "if they do not take such measures, the investment in CWSAP-I may just turn out to be dead capital," says a former Chief Engineer. Meanwhile, Metrowater will shortly select executing agencies for two packages for CWSAP-I pertaining to transmission of water. Two more packages are to be cleared, one relating to a water distribution system at Porur here and the other for overall supervision of the project. "The approval for these two packages may take a little more time," says the official.

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