Sustainable water and waste water management in Chennai Basin

Chennais AdministrationCMA (Chennai Metropolitan Area) 1189 Sq.Km

Chennai city corporation 176 Sq.Km

Kanchipuram District- 376 Sq.Km

Tiruvallur district- 637 Sq.Km

CMA comprising Chennai City corporation, 16 Municipalities, 20 Town panchayats, and 214 Village panchayats

Governmental agencies responsibleCMWSSB Water supply and sewerage facilities for CMAregion (Currently only in Chennai City Corporation including IT corridors, Ambathur, Manali Town areas and Mugappair)

PWD Implementation & maintenance of macro drainagesystem (CMA)

TWAD board Responsible for water supply and macrodrainage in parts of CMA within Kanchipuram and Tiruvallur district. (entire Tamilnadu excluding Chennai city) CMDA Metropolitan planning and coordination of infrastructure projects within CMA.

TNSCB Removal of slum/encroachment in the vicinity ofwater ways. (CMA) Municipal council, Townships, Village &Town panchayats in CMA- Operate and maintain systems in their area.

Sources of City water supply

City water supply sources- NetworkKandaleru diversion Poondi well fields Tamaraipakkam well fields Diversion Cholavaram tank Pumped & taken via underground conduits Redhills tank (treatment & distribution) Porur tank (distribution system) Errata eri Underground conduits Kilpauk (Water treatment & distribution System) Other Water distribution systems Pumped after treatment &conveyed in closed conduits Minjur well fields Manali industry Flood plains well fields Kannigaiper well fields

Poondi reservoir

Link channel Feeder channel Chembarambakkam tank

Panjetty well fields

Southern Coastal aquifer

New Veeranam tank

Water Distribution Stations in Chennai City1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Kilpauk Anna Poonga Kannappar Thidal Triplicane K.K.Nagar Velachery Ekkaduthangal Choolaimedu Kolathur Vysarpadi Patel Nagar Pallipattu Nandanam Mylapore Valluvarkottam Southern Head works

City water supply distribution- NetworkMinjur well field

Vyasarpadi Red hills distribution system Kolathur Kannapar thidal

Anna Poonga head works

Choolaimedu head works Kilpauk head works Patel Nagar K.K.Nagar head works Valluvarkottam head works

Triplicane head works

Southern head works

Mylapore

Porur tank (Distribution System)

Nandanam Pallipattu head works

Ekkattuthangal head works

Veeranam source

Velachery head works

Augmentation of water supply sources Time lineTill 1870 Unprotected supply from shallow wells 1914 Commencement of Kilpauk Water works operation. (Protected water supply) 1946-1959 Improvements to distribution, treatment, and conveyance system was done from red hills to Kilpauk and to southern Chennai 1872 Water supply from Red hills & Cholavaram lakes 1944 Operation of new reservoir at Poondi. (Combined capacity of 3 reservoirs 5596 Mcft) 1962 -1973 - Additional Head works started at (Anna Poonga) Robinson Park, Southern Head Works, K.K.Nagar 1962 - Irrigation rights of Red hills & Cholavaram lake acquired to water supply 1975-1977 Southern coastal aquifer along Thiruvanmiyur to muthukad by TWAD board 1978- CMWSSB (metro water separated from PWD)

1969 - Development of well fields at Minjur, Panjetty & Tamaraipakkam (125 MLD) 1972 Combined capacity of 3 reservoirs increased by 700 Mcft (6296 Mcft)

Augmentation of water supply sources.continued1978 - 12 Panchayats - Kodungaiyur, Vyasarpadi, Erukkanchery, Kolathur, Villivakkam, Thirumangalam, Virugambakkam, Saligramam, K.K. Nagar, Velachery, Tharamani and Thiruvanmiyur are taken under CMWSSB to provide water supply and sewerage services to these areas. 1984 CMWSSB has taken over southern aquifer operation (Thiruvanmiyur to muthukad) Safe yield is 10 MLD. Present withdrawal restricted to 1.5 MLD.

1982-1987 - UNDP/UNTACD Aided Hydro 1991-1992 PWD increased storage geological and Artificial Recharge studies completed capacity of 3 reservoirs. Poondi -3231 on Poondi, Kosasthalaiyar Flood Plains & Mcft , Redhills -3300 Mcft & Kannigaiper well fields (potential of 55MLD) Cholavaram - 881 Mcft. (7412 Mcft) Till 1996 3 surface reservoirs and 6 ground water September,1996 Poondi received fields extracted 318 MLD including 45 MLD to flows from Kandaleru reservoir from industry at Manali plus 273 MLD to city supply. river Krishna (As per Srisailam pact signed on 19th April,1983 for 15 TMC)

Augmentation of water supply sources.continuedJanuary, 2000 Chembarambakkam lake used as supplementary source. Rettai eri and Porur lake used during rainy season. 2000-2001 GW from Neyveli, Mamadur, Palur, Water from Cauvery river near Erode, GW from suburbs of Chennai are transported via road and rail to solve water scarcity 2002 RO plants installed in Coastal fisherman hamlets at North Chennai (Ayodhya kuppam & Kasimedu kuppam) 2003-2004- Drought stricken state goes for Veeranam Supply project commissioned for 180 MLD supply 2004-05 Proposal of Desalination plant for Chennai in Coromandal Coast 2007 New plant at Chembarambakkam tank for treating Telugu Ganga inflows. 2002-2004 Detailed study of GW extraction potential of Araniar Kosasthalaiyar basin concluded 100 mcm/year (normal year) & 80 mcm (drought year) as safe extraction. Report (Scott Wilson Piesold) 2008 - 2009 Ambathur and Manali New Town areas taken under CMWSSB for water supply. (12 head works functioning to distribute the water & 4 head works under improvement) 2011 9 Municipalities, 8 Town panchayats & 25 Village Panchayats included in Chennai city Corporation (426 Sq.Km)

Issues & Problems Dependence on rain fed rivers causing scarcity in summer Major Droughts during years 1983 & 20032004. Augmentation of new sources like Telugu Ganga Project (1983 Srisailam pact), Veeranam project (2004), Desalination plant at Minjur & Nemmeli (2005-06) made after experiencing droughts.

Issues & Problems continued Delayed inflows from Telugu Ganga Project and Veeranam Lake worsening months from March to June uncertainty of flows, timing Acquisition of Irrigation rights from Peri Urban farmers for City water supply causing depletion of aquifers. Environmental flows to be maintained in the downstream river reaches !

Objectives Assessment of water potential in the Chennai basin (Spatial and temporal) - Surface water & Ground water Sustainable solution for city water supply and distribution

Details available from Metro water websiteS.No. Name of source1 2 3 4 Poondi Cholavaram red hills lake System Well fields (Northern Chennai) Southern coastal aquifer, errata eri, Porur eri, etc. Inflows from Kandaleru reservoir (Krishna river ) (400 MLD through Redhills and 530 MLD through Chembarambakkam ) Veeranam lake (Kollidam river) Desalination plant (Minjur on trial & Nemmeli under construction) Local sources including Palar river in the CMA area other than city limits Abstractable quantity of local ground water in the city for uses other than drinking and cooking

Safe yield MLD227 68 5 837 (10 % losses from agreed 930 MLD (12 tmc)) 180 100 & 100 32 240

5 6 7 8

S.No1 2 3 4

Surface sourcesPoondi Cholavaram Redhills Chembarambakkam

Storage (Mcft)3231 881 3300 3645 Percapita supply 108 l/d

S.No1 2 3 4

Treatment PlantsKilpauk treatment plant Puzhal treatment plant (Redhills) Chembarambakkam plant Vadakuthu treatment plant (Veeranam)

Capacity (MLD)270 300 530 180

Sources of dataChennai Metro water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) Surface water bodies (ponds, lakes, and reservoirs) Hydraulic details of reservoirs, lakes, channel , conduits Daily/Monthly reservoir releases Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority Detailed Soil data for Chennai Basin Topography Map showing Chennai Metropolitan Area with boundary (with zones & corporations) Multiple satellite data (to develop land cover map and track land cover changes over the past three decades) Demography (Population over Chennai city corporation)

State ground & surface water resources data centre, Taramani Daily/monthly stream flow/discharge Ground water levels Daily Rainfall for 30 years GIS data set ( Hydrology Project I) Land use/cover Soil Watershed boundary for rivers inside CMA Administrative boundary for Chennai basin Elevation contours Geology

Spatial Data Pvt. Ltd, Bangalore Geo referenced road map for Chennai USGS web site Satellite images LANDSAT 5 images of 30 m resolution for developing land cover maps (1988,1991,2000, &2007) Mott McDonald (1994c) report Cross sections of Adyar, Couum river, Central and South Buckingham canal , Mambalam drain Survey of India Topographic map sheets Couum (North arm), Northern Buckingham canal, Otteri Nullah, Captain cotton canal (Survey of India,1971a,1971b, 1976a, 1976b)

Works/studies carried out in the basin1) 2) An integrated framework for analysis of water supply strategies in a developing city of Chennai, India (July 2008), Veena Srinivasan, Stanford University Making Urban Rainwater Harvesting Sustainable: Lessons Learned in Chennai, India (May 2004), Jeff Coelho and Shiva Kumar Reddy, Department of Environment, Technology and Social Studies, Roskilde University Macro Drainage System in CMA, Er.M.Dheenadhayalan, Senior Consultant, Institute of Remote Sensing, Anna University, Chennai 25. Waterways in Chennai, Mr. T. Kanthimathinathan, Executive Engineer, PWD & Nodal Officer, Couum Sub Basin Restoration & Management An adaptive ecosystem approach to rehabilitation and management of Couum river environmental system in Chennai, India (2000), Martin Joseph Bunch, Department of Geography, University of Waterloo, Canada Micro-level watershed study for Chennai basin (2005), Institute of Water Studies, PWD, Chennai. Storm water Drainage Master Plan for Madras City, and Pre-Feasibility Study for Madras Metropolitan Area: Final Report Appendices (Mott McDonald, 1994c) Rechargeabstraction relationships and sustainable yield in the Arani Kosasthalaiyar groundwater basin (2004), India A.N. Charalambous, P. Garratt - Scott Wilson, Kant hack House, Station Road, Ashford, Kent TN23 1PP, UK

3) 4) 5)

6) 7) 8)

Plans for data collection Visit to IHH, Poondi for reports related to Study on Chennai rivers and their hydraulic details. Visit to Institute of Water Studies, Taramani for report on Micro level watershed study of Chennai basin and maps created in GIS under Hydrology project I. Visit to Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) for collecting reports and maps of Chennai Authority Visit to CMWSSB to obtain reports of study made on Surface and ground water sources, water supply system operation and maps of Chennai river basin. Visit to PWD Muncipal Administration and Water supply department.