Chennai: Rain Intermittent since Monday morning has encouraged the authority of the State Public Works Department (PWD) to start releasing water at 2,000 cubic feet per second (cusec) from the reservoir in Chembarambakkam and Red Hills.
In Poondi, the outflow rate is reduced from 4,800 cusecs to 4,000 cusecs.
A senior PWD official said the rain in the catchment area in five reservoirs in the Tiruvallur district and Kancheepuram had been reduced since Monday morning, lowering the inflows.
This department now maintains a combined storage rate in five reservoirs a little more than 10 thousand million cubic feet (TMC).
At 6pm, Monday, the PoDi reservoir had a 2,730 MCFT storage rate against full capacity of 3,231 MCFT, Cholavaram 872 MCFT opposed the capacity of 1,081 MCFT, Red Hills 2,886 MCFT against a capacity of 3,300 MCFT, chembarambakkam 2,892 MCFT against its capacity of 3,645 MCFT.
The fifth reservoir, on Kannankottai Thervoykandigai, with the capacity to store 500 MCFT, full now.
Metrowater has so far only been withdrawn from the four main reservoirs and has not touched water from Kannankottai Thervoykandigai for the distribution of the city, the content to make it a standby source, said an official said.
PWD began releasing a surplus from Poondi a few days ago after the catchment area accepted heavy rain.
Furthermore, on Sunday the authorities began to release excess water from Chembarambakkam and Red Hills.
A few days ago, said a senior PWD official, with an Aranyar water catchment area in neighboring Andhra Pradesh had heavy rain, the inflow into the Pichattur reservoir had reached a full level.
The authority of the government Andhra Pradesh then released the water from this reservoir to the Pondi reservoir catchment area.
This increases the surface of the water in the podi reservoir.
Initially, water at the 2,000 cusec level was released and when the incoming flow, the debit rate was raised to 4,800 cusecs, officially added.