In a timely development, Chennai began receiving an increased flow of Krishna water from Andhra Pradesh on Monday, helping replenish the rapidly declining reservoir storage in city reservoirs.

The increase in Krishna water supply comes at a time when the Southwest monsoon has failed to bring adequate rainfall so far to build storage in five reservoirs, which contribute a major share of drinking water supply to Chennai.

Officials of the WRD said the entry point of Kandaleru-Poondi canal at Uthukottai, Tiruvallur district, received nearly 390 cubic feet per second (cusecs) of Krishna water on Monday. This was the highest quantum received during the current spell.

The water is released from Kandaleru reservoir in Andhra Pradesh to meet the drinking water requirements of Kalahasti, Rapur, Tirupati and for Chennai’s needs. This also follows a recent visit of a team of officials from Tamil Nadu, including Water Resources Department and Chennai Metrowater, to Andhra Pradesh seeking a rise in Krishna water discharge.

At present, the city reservoirs, including in Poondi, hold a combined storage of 44.83% of their capacity of 11,757 million cubic feet (mcft). The rise in Krishna water inflow would help maintain the storage and also ensure continued drinking water supply to the city.

Recalling that Andhra Pradesh officials had assured to provide a minimum release of 400 cusecs of Krishna water, WRD officials said the storage in the reservoir would increase by 1,000 mcft in a month if a steady inflow of 400 cusecs is maintained.

Chennai has received nearly 1, 450 mcft of Krishna water since its release from May 27. Andhra Pradesh authorities have assured supply from the Kandaleru reservoir, which has 30% of capacity, till the onset of Northeast monsoon in October, officials said. The daily water supply would be sustained till the year-end with the available resources.

Published - July 28, 2026 05:30 am IST