Poondi Reservoir or Sathyamoorthy reservoir is the
reservoir
A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation.
Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...
across
Kotralai River in
Tiruvallur district of
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a States and union territories of India, state in southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of India ...
State. It acts as the important water source for
Chennai
Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
city which is 60 km away.
History
![Thiruvenpakkam1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/Thiruvenpakkam1.jpg)
Poondi Reservoir (later named as Sathyamoorthy Sagar) was constructed in 1944 across the Kosathalaiyar River or
Kotralai River in Thiruvallur district with a capacity of 2573 Mcft and placed in service for intercepting and storing Kosathalaiyar River water. Surplus water flows down the river which is again intercepted by Tamaraipakkam Anicut and diverted to
Sholavaram
Cholavaram, also spelled Sholavaram, is a suburb north of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is popular as Sholavaram and is also known for the Cholavaram lake. Adjoining the lake, there was an defunct Air Force Airfield which was used as a moto ...
Lake and
Puzhal lake
Pulhal aeri, or Pulhal lake, sometimes spelled Puzhal lake, also known as the Red Hills Lake, is located in Red Hills, Chennai, India. It lies in Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu state. It is one of the two rain-fed reservoirs from where wa ...
. A lined canal known as Poondi Canal was later constructed in 1972 to convey water from Poondi Reservoir to Sholavaram Lake. This reservoir was constructed at the cost of 6.5 million. Satyamurti who is remembered today as the political mentor of Kumaraswami Kamaraj, who was the Chief Minister of the State between 1954 and 1963. Because of his strong devotion to Satyamurti, Kamaraj got the Poondi reservoir named after Satyamurti.
The original complex of
Oondreswarar Temple
Oondreswarar Temple (ஊன்றீஸ்வரர் கோயில் ) :ta: பூண்டி ஊன்றீஸ்வரர் கோயில் (also called Poondi Temple) is a Hindu temple dedicated to the deity Shiva, located in Poo ...
is believed to have been built by
Cholas
The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE d ...
, while the present masonry structure was built during the 16th century. The temple was moved to the current location in 1942 to ease the construction of the reservoir.
The reservoir has a garden is a popular picnic spot in the region.
1972: Construction of lined channel
The construction of a lined channel from Poondi to Tamaraipakkam for a length of 15 km. to convey water from Poondi to Tamaraipakkam was completed in 1972 to reduce the transmission loss. The combined capacities of
Sholavaram
Cholavaram, also spelled Sholavaram, is a suburb north of Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It is popular as Sholavaram and is also known for the Cholavaram lake. Adjoining the lake, there was an defunct Air Force Airfield which was used as a moto ...
and
Redhills lakes were increased by 700 Mcft by raising the lake bunds. Thus, the combined storage capacity of Poondi, Sholavaram and Redhills was increased to 6296 Mcft (Poondi: 2573 + Cholavaram: 881 + Redhills: 2842). The irrigation rights of Sholavaram lake and Redhills lake were acquired in 1962 and the entire storage was made available for the City supply.
Telugu Ganga Project
![Poondi8](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/Poondi8.jpg)
An agreement was signed jointly by Governments of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh on 14 April 1976 to spare 15 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of Krishna water to Chennai city. Following this, an accord between Andhra Pradesh Government and Tamil Nadu Government was signed for
Telugu Ganga project
The Telugu Ganga project is a joint water supply scheme implemented in 1980s by the then Andhra Pradesh chief minister N.T.Ramarao and Tamilnadu Chief minister M. G. Ramachandran to provide drinking water to Chennai city in Tamil Nadu. It is als ...
on 18 April 1983 for drawing 15 TMC of Krishna water to Chennai City from Sri Sailam Reservoir to be conveyed through Somaseela and Kandaleru Reservoirs and ultimately a net quantity of 12 TMC (after loss of 3 TMC en route in evaporation and seepage) will reach the Tamil Nadu border.
Initial works for supplying water under this scheme were completed in 1996 and from September 1996, water is received at Poondi Reservoir from Kandaleru Reservoir in Andhra Pradesh through 152 km. long open canal up to Tamil Nadu Border near Uthukottai. Then, the water is conveyed through 25 km. long open canal to Poondi Reservoir. From Poondi Reservoir, water is transferred to
Redhills and Chembarambakkam Lakes through Link/Feeder canals and supplied to city after treatment. Key point to note is Somaseela reservoir reaches 22TMC in capacity and Kandaleru capacity exceeds 8TMC before water can flow in the lined canal to "zero point" i.e. Tamil Nadu border point..
2008-2009: Construction of pump houses
Nearly 35 Million Litres per Day (MLD) of water, which was being wasted due to evaporation during transfer from Poondi to Red Hills, will soon be available to city residents, and 40,530 new water connections are likely to be given because of it. A water pumping house in Poondi, inaugurated on Wednesday by deputy chief minister M K Stalin, will make this possible.
The Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (CMWSSB) supplies around 650 MLD of water everyday, and the Poondi reservoir is one of the major sources of water. Currently, water from Poondi is being carried by means of an open canal to Cholavaram and from there to Red Hills. Nearly 35 MLD of water is wasted due to evaporation. With CMWSSB transferring the water directly from the Poondi reservoir to Red Hills through a closed pipeline running to about 47 km, there will be no wastage of water. The pumping station was constructed to increase the force of water sent through the canal. A 45-km pipeline was installed five years ago and we added two kilometres extra under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Now, the water will directly reach the Red Hills treatment plant and there will be no wastage.
2015: Heavy rainfall in the month of November and December
![Poondi5](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0a/Poondi5.jpg)
The northeast monsoon brought heavy rainfall from Deepavalli causing the huge flow of water in Poondi Reservoir and from its surroundings. On 16 November 2015 the Poondi reservoirs, bone-dry until a fortnight ago, were filled to the brim, which led to consternation among residents of localities nearby areas.
Huge inflows are recorded in Poondi reservoir. Chennai Metro Water said that Poondi is getting an inflow of over 6,000 cusecs of water from
Kosasthalaiyar river
Kosasthalaiyar River, also known as Kortalaiyar, is one of the three rivers that flow in the Chennai metropolitan area.
The river and its course
Kosasthalaiyar is long and originates near Pallipattu in Thiruvallur district and drains into the ...
on 17 November 2015.
On 1 December 2015 the northeast monsoon brought heavy rainfall of 40 mm and causing the inflow of 34,887 (
cusecs) and outflow of 36,484 (
cusecs), which was the highest inflow and outflow of water ever seen before on 3 December 2015.
See more
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Sholavaram lake
Sholavaram aeri, or Sholavaram lake, is located in Ponneri taluk of Thiruvallur district, Tamil Nadu, India. It is one of the rain-fed reservoirs from where water is drawn for supply Chennai city from this lake to Puzhal lake through canals.
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Puzhal lake
Pulhal aeri, or Pulhal lake, sometimes spelled Puzhal lake, also known as the Red Hills Lake, is located in Red Hills, Chennai, India. It lies in Thiruvallur district of Tamil Nadu state. It is one of the two rain-fed reservoirs from where wa ...
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Krishna River
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Chembarambakkam lake
Chembarambakkam lake is a lake located in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, about 25 km from Chennai. It is one of the two rain-fed reservoirs from where water is drawn for supply to Chennai City, the other one being the Puzhal Lake. The Adyar ...
References
External links
{{Hydrography of Tamil Nadu
Reservoirs in Tamil Nadu
Tiruvallur district