Telugu Ganga project
Encyclopedia
The Telugu Ganga project is a water supply scheme implemented in South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...

, to provide drinking water to Chennai
Chennai
Chennai , formerly known as Madras or Madarasapatinam , is the capital city of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, located on the Coromandel Coast off the Bay of Bengal. Chennai is the fourth most populous metropolitan area and the sixth most populous city in India...

 city in Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...

. It is also known as the Krishna Water Supply Project, since the source of the water is the Krishna river
Krishna River
The Krishna River , is one of the longest rivers in central-southern India, about . It is also referred to as Krishnaveni in its original nomenclature...

 in Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...

. Water is drawn from the Srisailam
Srisailam
Srisailam is a holy town and mandal, situated in Nallamala Hills of Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh, India. It is located on the banks of River Krishna, about 232 km south of Hyderabad....

 reservoir and diverted towards Chennai through a series of inter-linked canals, over a distance of about 406 km, before it reaches the destination at the Poondi reservoir near Chennai. The main checkpoints en route include the Somasila reservoir in Pennar valley, the Kandaleru reservoir, the 'Zero Point' near Uthukkottai where the water enters Tamil Nadu territory and finally, the Poondi reservoir, also known as Satyamurthy Sagar. From Poondi, water is distributed through a system of link-canals to other storage reservoirs located at Red Hills
Red Hills Lake
The Red Hills Lake,also called Puzhal Lake is located in Ponneri Taluk of Thiruvallur district, Tamilnadu, South India . It is one of the two rain-fed reservoirs from where water is drawn for supply to Chennai City, the other one being the Chembarambakkam Lake.*The full capacity of the lake is...

, Sholavaram
Sholavaram Lake
Sholavaram Lake, located in Ponneri taluka of Thiruvallur district, Tamilnadu, South India, is one of the rain-fed reservoirs from where water is drawn for supply to Chennai. On account of scanty rainfall for last three years , the lake looks like a small pond now....

 and Chembarambakkam.

The project was approved in 1977 after an agreement was reached between Tamil Nadu and the riparian states of Krishna river: Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra
Maharashtra
Maharashtra is a state located in India. It is the second most populous after Uttar Pradesh and third largest state by area in India...

 and Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...

. According to the agreement, each of the three riparian states were to contribute 5 thousand million cubic ft (tmc) of water annually, for a total supply of 15 tmc. This number was revised down to 12 tmc in 1983.

The water initially supplied by the canal was disappointing, delivering less than 0.5  tmc. In 2002 religious leader Sathya Sai Baba
Sathya Sai Baba
Śri Sathya Sai Baba , born as Sathyanarayana Raju was an Indian guru, spiritual figure, mystic, philanthropist, and educator. He claimed to be the reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi, a spiritual saint and miracle worker who died in 1918 and whose teachings were an eclectic blend of Hindu and...

announced a great scheme of restoration and lining of the canal; a private undertaking. With an extensive rebuilding of the canal and several reservoirs, the project was completed in 2004, when Poondi reservoir received Krishna water for the first time. The supply of water to Chennai city in 2006 was 3.7  tmc.
After the re-lining and reconstruction, the Kandaleru-Poondi part of the canal was renamed Sai Ganga.
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