Veeranam Lake - in Literature

In Literature

The opening chapter of the book Ponniyin Selvan is set on the banks of the Veera Narayanar Lake. Kalki gives an elaborate description of the features of the lake and the way multiple rivers flow into the lake. He also makes a reference to the fact, that Ramanujacharya decided on the number of peetas based on the number of openings in the lake. This is the Veeraanam Lake formerly known as Veeranaaraayanapuram Lake.

Veeranam Lake, built by the Chola kings, is the main reservoir to meet the drinking water requirements of Chennai city. The lake draws water from the Cauvery River. The Lake is located at Senthathope which is about 230 km south of Chennai. The lake has a capacity to store about 1,465 mcft of water.

Though the level in the Veeranam lake has dipped to 323 million cubic feet (mcft), the same amount of 180 mld (million litres a day) was being drawn for city supply.

Water released from the Mettur dam through Kollidam and Lower Anicut would also bring in sufficient inflow into the Veeranam Lake.

The lake received sufficient inflow in April enabling supply to the city for three months With heavy rain in Western Ghats, the lake almost got its storage capacity as it received inflow from the Cauvery tributaries Bhavani and Amaravathi.