Madurai Water Facts
Madurai's water state in quotable numbers. Every fact has a source, a date, and a methodology link. Organised by freshness: today's live data, this year's government releases, historical milestones, and structural infrastructure.
Last updated: 18 Jun 2026, 05:30 am
Live reservoir storage, refill rates, monsoon catchment context, and the urban supply chain that draws from them.
See live data on dashboard→MMC current annual draw
Current actual annual drinking-water draw from Vaigai, ~600 Mcft/year below the 1,500 Mcft sanctioned allocation. The gap is structural - Pannaipatty WTP's design capacity caps treated supply at 125 MLD.
MMC sanctioned drinking-water draw
Madurai Municipal Corporation's sanctioned annual drinking-water allocation from Vaigai Dam, the operational source for the city. Headroom over current draw means structural supply room; the constraint today is treatment capacity, not raw water.
Pannaipatty WTP design capacity
Pannaipatty Water Treatment Plant is the only treatment facility for Madurai's Vaigai supply. The Mullai Periyar dedicated supply scheme (under construction) is designed to lift treated capacity to 250 MLD, closing the gap to the 2034 design demand of ~250 MLD for ~1.7M residents.
Vaigai Dam capacity
The headline reservoir for Madurai city, 6,143 Mcft at 71 ft full reservoir level, commissioned in 1959 by then-CM K. Kamaraj. Hydroelectric capacity added 1990.
Mullaperiyar Dam storage cap
Two reference levels for the same dam. Kerala caps storage at 142 ft per Supreme Court 2014 ruling; TN-side records preserve the historical 152 ft FRL. Vaigai gets ~80% of its inflow from Mullaperiyar via the trans-basin Periyar tunnel.
Mullaperiyar lease deed
1886 Periyar Lake Lease Indenture between the Maharaja of Travancore and the Secretary of State for India in Council. Still in force; subject of ongoing Kerala-TN dispute since 1979 safety concerns.
Methodology & sources
Every number on this page is sourced from a publicly available dataset or official release. Live figures are refreshed daily from government monitoring feeds; annual figures show their vintage year; historical and structural figures are reference data with dated provenance.
See full data sources →