It is June and that time of the year when water should be sufficient at the Siruvani Dam, if not overflowing from it, due to the Southwest Monsoon, but it is not. The water level in the reservoir as of July 4, was a perilous 2.33 ft above the dead storage level.
It is June and that time of the year when water should be sufficient at the Siruvani Dam, if not overflowing from it, due to the Southwest Monsoon, but it is not. The water level in the reservoir as of July 4, was a perilous2.33 ft above the dead storage level.
But the good news coming from the dam is that the water level has risen 3 ft in a single day due to the incessant rains in the Siruvani Dam area. The mountain top recorded 202 mm of rainfall and the foothills received 40 mm of rainfall yesterday.
Though the full reservoir capacity in Siruvani is 49.54 feet, the height to which water could be stored, the Corporation did not have the luxury of having water to that height this year as the Kerala Government had reduced the maximum water storage level at Siruvani to around 45 feet, following the floods there.
The Corporation supplies Siruvani water to 36 wards within its limits. On top of that, hundreds of villages on the Siruvani pipeway use the water. Based on the existing water level at the dam, the dam is only able to provide 6 crore liters per day as opposed to a demand of 10 crore litres.
The Siruvani catchment areas received 78 mm of rainfall on July 3rd and the dam stood depleted at just 2.33 ft.
If the rainfall continues, Coimbatore will not face water shortage. An erratic rainfall in the western Ghats this year has kept the residents nervous as severe water shortage has been faced across the city. If we don't have more days like yesterday, it is deemed that an acute shortage of potable water is imminent.