Image used for representational purposes
| Photo Credit: B. Jothi Ramalingam
Chennai will get its sixth reservoir along East Coast Road (ECR) and Rajiv Gandhi Salai in Chengalpattu district with a capacity to store nearly 1.7 thousand million cubic feet to cater to the city growing needs.
This was one of the announcements made by Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu, who presented the State Budget for the fiscal 2025-26 in the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly on Friday (March 14, 2025).
This would be the sixth major reservoir to be maintained by the Water Resources Department for Chennai’s drinking water needs. The reservoir would be created at a cost of ₹350 crore in the Kovalam sub basin. It would store a portion of the floodwater that otherwise drains into the sea.
Sources said the reservoir would be spread over 4,400 acres. It would be located between Kelambakkam and Mamallapuram with its bund running for a length of nearly 20 km. The project would not involve any acquisition of private lands and would be executed with government lands and those belonging to the Tamil Nadu Salt Corporation.
It would have an annual capacity of 2.25 tmcft when filled twice and a potential of providing 170 million litres of water daily, every year.
The city has reservoirs in Red Hills, Chembarambakkam, Poondi, Cholavaram, and Thervoy Kandigai Kannankottai with a total storage capacity of 11.7 tmcft. The WRD has been allocated ₹9,460 crore in this Budget.
Published – March 14, 2025 03:51 pm IST
