In a push to implement Integrated Water Security project for the Chennai Metropolitan Area (CMA) this fiscal, the Water Resources Department (WRD) is advancing talks with the World Bank for financial assistance, with an initial focus on high-impact and easily implementable projects.
A World Bank team is expected to visit Chennai next week for site visits and further discussions on the proposed projects. During a meeting held on Thursday, representatives from WRD and World Bank discussed the key projects that could be executed in the next few years to enhance the city’s resilience against droughts and floods, and bridge the widening gap between drinking water demand and supply.
The WRD has estimated that the water demand in CMA is projected to reach 3,700 million litres a day (mld) by 2050. The Department is planning interventions across various components, including the augmentation of capacity in existing water bodies, creation and improvement of new storage structures, and modernisation of water governance.
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To maximise water conservation, the Department has pitched projects to increase the storage capacity of various tanks such as Nemam, Sriperumbudur, Thiruninravur and Nandivaram, located around the city. Besides improving the canals feeding major reservoirs and the creation of additional sources, projects to develop a decision support system for real-time monitoring of entire Chennai basin have also been prioritised for sustainable water security.
