Summer showers not raised Siruvani Water Level
The Coimbatore Corporation's hopes of a small gain for the Siruvani drinking water scheme seem to have been dashed as the summer showers have not helped in raising the water level. Corporation sources said on Monday that the level was 37 ft as against the full reservoir level of 67.44 ft. It was 41 ft on April 24 last year. Once again, the sources attributed the difference of four feet to the demand for more this year. The level has dipped by five ft in this month itself. It was 42 ft on April 5.
The difference between last year's readings in April and this year has been a steady four feet, water managers in the Corporation pointed out. It was 41 ft on April 10 this year, as against 45 ft last year. The difference was the same as on Tuesday. Even as the level kept dipping since mid-March this year, the Corporation allayed fears of scarcity during summer saying that the storage would last till the onset of the southwest monsoon in June.
The civic body had also sounded confident that the summer showers would raise the storage by a foot of two like last year. But, there is no good news so far. The dam received 32 mm rain on April 21, 20 mm and the five mm on the next two days respectively. The civic body felt that this would not help at all. The water level had actually reduced from 38 ft last Friday to 37 ft on Tuesday. Water managers in the Corporation also pointed out that the dam would benefit only from direct rain. The summer showers were not heavy enough to bring water through the rivulets and falls in the upper reaches of the Siruvani hills. After a very dry spell, the ground would absorb most of what the rain offered. Water supply within the city was being made on alternate days and there was no threat yet of any drastic change. Only recently did the Corporation state that the supply would be cut from four hours to two hours even on alternate days.
Officials in the water supply wing of the Corporation said that the present supply of Siruvani water was 71 million litres a day (mld), as against the 87 mld provided for under the scheme. Supply under the Pilloor scheme was one million litres less than the assured supply of 65 mld. While the Corporation officials felt that the city would not run into a severe scarcity, local bodies in the outskirts were not in a comfortable position. Veerakeralam, about 10 km west of the city, was already facing shortage of water. "We are getting only 3.5-lakh litres of Siruvani water every day. But, our requirement for a population of around 40,000 is 1.2 mld," Town Panchayat President V.T. Bakthavathsalam said. "The amount available now helps in supplying water once in 10 or 12 days and that too for only an hour."