The current spell of summer rain has given a sigh of relief to the water managers in Tiruchi and several civic bodies in the district in meeting drinking water requirement to the residents in May and subsequent months.

Though many civic bodies, including Tiruchi Corporation, have been supplying water to residents through wells in the riverbed of the Cauvery, they face trouble in the summer months as the groundwater table invariably depletes during the season. It is during the months of March, April and May the civic bodies in the district experience water scarcity due to dry weather conditions. The difficulty continues to surface until the onset of the northeast monsoon. To manage the situation, the civic bodies put in place a contingency plan.

There are reports that several towns, including Manapparai, Thuraiyur, Uppiliyapuram, Thathaiyargarpettai, and several villages in Tiruchi district facing acute drinking water shortage for the past few weeks. Depleting water tables, dwindling draw of water at the pumping stations and erratic power supply were among the reasons cited for the short supply of drinking water. Collector V. Saravanan visited Manapparai and a few other areas in the district on Friday to study the issues over drinking water supply.

As the situation has begun to turn critical, several parts of Tiruchi and other areas have received moderate to good rain for the last few days. The current spell of unseasonal rain has come as a relief to local bodies. The rain has helped them to tap the groundwater through various local sources in order to set right the shortage of drinking water supply from the riverbeds.

Tiruchi Corporation, which gets water from the riverbeds in the Cauvery and the Kollidam, claims that there will be no scarcity of drinking water during the remaining summer period and the subsequent months until the onset of the northeast monsoon in October. The city requires about 140 MLD of water to meet the requirements of about 10 lakh population. While the Corporation gets 70 MLD from the Kollidam, it sources about 65 MLD from the Cauvery through its pumping station and wells. The officials say that there has been no issue in water supply.

An official said that the Mettur dam had a comfortable storage. There was no drastic decline in the water table in the Cauvery and the Kollidam riverbeds, where pumping stations were located to draw water, as the rivers had a steady flow of water. The current spell of rain has also helped to recharge the groundwater. Hence, sufficient supply could be maintained until July and August.