Chennai: Around 10,000 irrigation tanks under the Water Resources Department (WRD) are drying up, increasing pressure on both agriculture and drinking water supply across Tamil Nadu.
The WRD maintains 90 reservoirs with a combined capacity of 224 TMC. As the southwest monsoon has been disappointing, storage levels have fallen sharply. At present, the total water available across all 90 reservoirs is about 74.2 TMC.
Officials note that desilting work has not been carried out adequately, affecting reservoir capacity by around 30%. As a result, the actual usable storage could be lower than official calculations. With 55 reservoirs reaching a dry-stage condition, drawing water from them has become difficult.
The WRD also maintains 14,141 irrigation tanks that support cultivation and drinking water needs. Through the Rural Development Department and the Municipal Administration Department, borewells have been installed in several tanks and combined drinking water schemes are being implemented.
Among the tanks, 2,945 have already dried up completely. Madurai leads with 823 dry tanks, followed by Sivaganga (477), Thanjavur (280), Tiruvannamalai (240), Tirunelveli (143) and Dindigul (141). Another 6,389 tanks are nearing dry conditions, raising concerns among delta farmers who have begun cultivation relying on tank water.
