Chief Minister Vijay launches ₹3,108‑crore ring‑main pipeline to secure Chennai’s drinking water

Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay laid the foundation stone for a ₹3,108.55 crore ring‑main pipeline project aimed at delivering equitable, uninterrupted drinking water to the Greater Chennai Corporation area. The scheme will interlink nine water‑treatment facilities—five plants, three desalination units and the 400 MLD desalination plant under construction at Perur—through a closed circular loop. It involves laying 91.2 km of interconnected pipelines, 64.2 km of transmission lines and 2.65 km of pumping mains. Instruments to monitor pressure, flow and quality, together with a SCADA system, will feed data to the control room at Chennai Metrowater headquarters. The project is being executed by the Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board with financing from the Asian Development Bank. Chennai currently draws water from reservoirs at Puzhal, Cholavaram, Veeranam, Chembarambakkam, Thervoy Kandigai‑Kannankottai, Poondi and the Krishna River, and treats it at plants in Puzhal, Surapet, Kilpauk, Chembarambakkam and Veeranam, plus desalination plants at Minjur and Nemmeli. The board supplies 1,260 MLD of treated water through 143 distribution stations to about 9.1 million residents. Existing pipelines feed specific city zones, leaving no backup if a source fails; the new loop will allow water to be rerouted instantly. Ministers N. Anand, Aadhav Arjuna, P. Venkataramanan, Rajmohan, N. Marie Wilson and R. Kumar, along with senior officials, attended the launch, after which the chief minister inspected flood‑mitigation work at Okiyam Maduvu. He urged officials to speed up the ongoing works.

Context

Ring‑main pipelines create a network that can shift water between sources, reducing the impact of supply interruptions. Such systems are common in large cities that rely on multiple reservoirs and desalination plants to meet growing demand.