Amid complaints of irregular drinking water supply and increased supply intervals in Coimbatore district for the last few days, the district authorities have intensified efforts to manage the summer demand.

The Siruvani, Pillur and Aliyar reservoirs remain the major drinking water sources for Coimbatore city and surrounding local bodies. Residents in rural areas as well as parts of the city have raised concerns over delays in water supply, with areas such as Sulur, Neelambur and Thondamuthur, besides localities including Rathinapuri, Sivananda Colony, Gandhipuram and Selvapuram in the city, reportedly receiving water only after intervals of more than a week.

The Coimbatore Corporation depends on the Siruvani scheme, three Pillur-based schemes and one Aliyar-based scheme for drinking water supply. Officials said the Siruvani reservoir level stood at 9.8 feet on Sunday (May 17, 2026) against its full capacity of 45 feet and only around 30 MLD was currently being supplied from the reservoir to the city, against the maximum drawal capacity of 101 MLD during full storage level.

Officials said recent rainfall in the Upper Bhavani and Pillur catchment areas had increased the water level in Pillur dam by around eight feet in a week. The reservoir level now stands at 82 feet against its full capacity of 100 feet.

“Water level in Siruvani has been dropping due to lack of rainfall in the catchment areas and there has not been any significant increase in inflow. The daily drinking water requirement for Coimbatore city is around 330 MLD and supply is currently being managed mainly through Pillur sources,” an official said.

Collector Pavankumar G. Giriyappanavar told The Hindu that the drinking water situation was not alarming and available storage was sufficient to meet present demand. Recent disruptions in supply were mainly due to maintenance work carried out at the barrage on River Bhavani operated by Tamil Nadu Green Energy Corporation Limited at Samayapuram village near the Pillur III headworks.

“The maintenance work began on May 7 and continued for five days. Water flow from the dam had to be stopped temporarily for the works. As a result, downstream drinking water schemes were affected. All schemes have now resumed functioning,” he said.

Officials said a total of 754 MLD of water is drawn from the Bhavani through 14 drinking water schemes. Of these, two schemes supply around 177 MLD of water to Tiruppur Corporation and areas around Avinashi and Palladam, while the remaining schemes cater to Coimbatore city and rural areas in the district.