Chennai, Oct 20 : The Greater Chennai Corporation said that 59 ponds in the city have reached their full capacity due to the recent rains.

The corporation in a statement on Saturday said that this has increased the groundwater levels substantially.

It may be recalled that the Greater Chennai Corporation is in the process of restoration of these ponds and this has significantly increased the storage capacities of these ponds thus retaining water leading to the increase in groundwater levels.

The Singara Chennai 2.0 Mission (Phase II) has led to the restoration of 24 ponds with a total area of 319,976 square metres at an estimated cost of Rs 13.56 crore.

The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) has also cleaned and restored five ponds under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) 2.0 scheme at an estimated cost of Rs 14.48 crore.

Other than the support of AMRUT and Singara Chennai 2.0 scheme, the Greater Chennai Corporation has already restored many ponds using the support of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds.

C. Rajeev, Director, Centre for Policy and Development Studies (CPDS), a think tank based out of Chennai while speaking to IANS said, 'The Greater Chennai Corporation has been in the process of restoring several ponds across the city and this has helped the water during rains being stored in the ponds leading to an increase in the groundwater levels.'

It may be recalled that with the arrival of northeast monsoon, Chennai received heavy rains leading to around 59 ponds being raised to the brim.

/IANS