Chembarambakkam Lake is a lake located in
Chennai
Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...
,
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
, India, about 25 km from Chennai. It is the biggest of the two important rain-fed reservoirs, the other one being the
Puzhal Lake, that supply drinking water to Chennai city . The
Adyar River
The Adyar River, which originates near the Chembarambakkam Lake in the Kanchipuram district, is one of the three rivers that winds through Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, and joins the Bay of Bengal at the Adyar estuary. The long river contributes ...
originates from this lake. A part of drinking water supply to Chennai metropolis is drawn from this lake. This was the first
artificial lake
A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from t ...
built by
Rajendra Chola I
Rajendra I (26 July 971 – 1044), often referred to as Rajendra the Great, was a Chola Empire, Chola Emperor who reigned from 1014 to 1044. He was born in Thanjavur to Rajaraja I. His queen was Vanavan Mahadevi and he assumed royal power as ...
, the son of
Rajaraja Chola, and Thiripuvana Madeviyar, prince of
Kodumbalur.
During
Chennai's water crisis of 2019, Chembarambakkam Lake dried up.
The lake
Chembarambakkam lake was known as Puliyur Kottam. It is one of the 24 (villages) that existed even during the later
Chola
The Chola Empire, which is often referred to as the Imperial Cholas, was a medieval thalassocratic empire based in southern India that was ruled by the Chola dynasty, and comprised overseas dominions, protectorates and spheres of influence ...
period in Thondai Mandalam which had
Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: '; ), also known as Kanjeevaram, is a stand alone city corporation, satellite nodal city of Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from ...
as its headquarters. The lake was built by
Rajendra Chola, the son of
Rajaraja Chola.
The full tank level is . The full capacity of the lake is 3,645 million cubic ft (3.64 Tmc ft)(103215 million liters).However, acute sedimentation has eroded more than 40% of its water holding capacity. There is an ancient
Shiva
Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
temple and Kanni Koil located here.
Pipelines
There are two pipelines existing from the lake's water treatment plant. The existing pipeline on Poonamallee Bypass Road has the capacity to convey only half of the 530 million litres that can be treated at the plant. In 2012, Chennai Metrowater started evaluating the feasibility of laying a third pipeline with a diameter of about 2,000 mm from the Chembarambakkam water treatment plant at a cost of 650 million, which will run parallel to the existing one for over 6.5 km.
Gallery
File:Chembarambakkam tank.jpg, Chembarambakkam tank, drinking water provider of Chennai
File:16-lock view of chembarambakkam tank.jpg, 16-lock view of Chembarambakkam tank
File:Main 5-lock view of chembarambakkam tank.jpg, Main 5-lock view of Chembarambakkam tank
File:Water gushing out of tank when water released during the sep-oct of 2011.jpg, Water gushing out of tank when water was released during Sep-Oct of 2011
File:Water gushing out of tank when water released during 2011.jpg, Water gushing out of tank when water was released during 2011
See also
*
Puzhal lake
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Water management in Chennai
The coastal city of Chennai has a metropolitan population of 10.6 million as per 2019 census. As the city lacks a perennial water source, catering the water requirements of the population has remained an arduous task. On 18 June 2019, the city's r ...
*
Birding in Chennai
References
Lakes of Chennai
Reservoirs in Tamil Nadu
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