SCADA project to automate Chennai reservoirs operation makes slow progress; WRD aims to complete by Northeast monsoon

The Hindu

01-07-2025

The project to automate the operation of the city reservoirs and develop decision support for water management has slowed down, as the Water Resources Department awaits the release of the National Disaster Mitigation Fund.
Though the project was chalked out a year ago, it has not made significant progress in terms of instrumentation installation. However, the department is confident of completing the work by the onset of the Northeast monsoon, which brings in a major share of annual rainfall to Chennai.
The opening of the floodgates of reservoirs, including Chembarambakkam and Red Hills, renews concerns on impending inundation in the downstream areas during every Northeast monsoon. In a key effort to reduce flooding, increase response time, and enable transparency in sharing reservoirs' storage data, the department will introduce the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) based integrated reservoir automation system.
Officials said work is in progress, however at a slow pace, for automated flood control and real-time monitoring of the storage. The project aimed at fixing automatic water level recorders, flow sensors, and gate sensors to automate shutters operation, manage water discharge during peak inflow, and reduce flood risk in low level areas.
The department is constructing an integrated command control centre at Chepauk and connected with sub-control centres in Red Hills, Poondi and Chembarambakkam reservoirs. When the SCADA based system is in place, reservoirs' shutters can be operated remotely from Chepauk and analyse inflows and changes in water levels to control flood discharge.
The integrated command centre would have graphical representations of the reservoirs' network-inflow rate from various points, outflow level, position of sluice gates and storage. Various real-time data would be analysed to assess the exact time required for the reservoirs to fill up and need to store or release water.
The decision support system would also allow real-time sharing of information with other institutions and government agencies and enhance flood management.
The Rs. 32 crore project will help accurately predict reservoir capacity and optimise water resource management during summer months, officials said.
A 'Near line disaster recovery centre' is also being established in Alandur that would function as a backup location for critical data recovery and operation during extreme weather events.
On the delay in project, officials said efforts are being taken to implement the project by this upcoming monsoon.