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TN Govt clarifies on water release from Chembarambakkam lake

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Press Trust of India Chennai
Last Updated : Dec 13 2015 | 9:42 PM IST
Terming as "malicious" the reports stating that the recent floods in the city were a result of "failure" in management of water release from reservoirs, Tamil Nadu government today said the deluge was a "rarest of rare natural calamity" and people had been alerted about it.
Reacting to reports that flooding of the Adyar River was the result of "improper" management of water release from Chembarambakkam lake, Chief Secretary K Gnanadesikan in a statement denied that officials were waiting for clearance from Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa for releasing excess water.
"The floods in Chennai were rarest of rare natural calamity and were not caused by any failure of management of water releases from reservoirs," he said.
"The entire discharge (from Chembarambakkam) was through the regulators and there was no uncontrolled discharge through the surplus weirs," he added.
Opposition parties had alleged that sudden release of huge quantity of water from the Chembarambakkam reservoir in the wake of heavy rainfall on December 1 was the reason behind the unprecedented inundation of Chennai and its neighbourhood.
DMK Chief M Karunanidhi on December 11 submitted a memorandum to Governor K Rosaiah seeking a judicial inquiry by a sitting High Court judge into "delayed" release of excess water.

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The Chief Secretary said the Chembarambakkam tank situated in Sriperumbudur has a storage capacity of 3,645 (TMC ft) about 33 per cent of storage capacity of city reservoirs, he said, the full tank level is 24 feet and maximum discharging capacity was 33,060 cusecs.
Following the torrential rains last week, the authorities were monitoring the water-level in the tank, he said adding, based on the field situation the engineers gradually increased the level of water from 10,000 cusecs to 29,000 cusecs and maintained it till 3 PM on December 2.
Similarly local controlling officers were monitoring the level of water in tanks and reservoirs in Red Hills, Cholavaram, Poondi.
"Hence, the allegation that they were waiting for instructions from Principal Secretary, Public Works Department and Chief Secretary and the imputation that the officers were awaiting clearance from Chief Minister are malicious and are canards not supported by water release data of the reservoir", he said.
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"The Collector of Chennai issued flood warnings which were telecast in TV and FM radio channels. Police and Fire Service personnel along with revenue and Corporation officials went from street to street alerting people about the water release through megaphone," the Chief Secretary said.
Following the warnings, over 30,000 persons were evacuated from Saidapet, Jaffarkhanpet, Kottupuram and Ramapuram localities in the city while 17,300 persons in Kancheepuram district.
"Therefore, the allegation that the State government had not given sufficient alert to people is not true," he said.
"The level of water at the Chembarambakkam Tank was steadily 'stepped up' based on inflows and not all of a sudden", he said, adding the tank was "skillfully" and "judicially" managed in ordered to moderate the flow in Adyar river.
"Hence, reports in sections of media of overflow from Chembarambakkam Tank after it reached its full capacity of 24 feet is factually incorrect and contrary to the facts", he said.
Due to heavy rains, Nandhivaram, Urappakkam, Mannivakkam and Adanur tanks breached on reaching maximum water level, resulting in heavy inflow into Adyar river.
In view of heavy inflow in Adyar river, the high intensity runoff of local rainfall in Chennai City and adjoining areas could not fully drain into Adyar and hence contributed to the inundation of the city, he said.
"The work of keeping the Adyar river mouth open for free flow of flood water into Bay of Bengal was being continuously executed throughout the year using machinery helped in faster discharge of floods, preventing even greater inundation of the city", he said.
The torrential rains and the flooding had brought normal life to a grinding halt in the city and also led to suspension of flight operations for a few days while the Army, Navy and Coastguard personnel joined operations to rescue marooned residents.

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First Published: Dec 13 2015 | 9:42 PM IST

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