Salem: In a great relief to farmers hit by drought due to prolonged dryness, the water storage level in Mettur dam has been increasing sharply following heavy rains in the Cauvery's catchment areas of TN and Karnataka.
The water level has increased by up to 28 feet in the last 40 days and inflow into the dam has shot up to over 20,000 cusecs.
Following widespread rains brought by Southwest monsoon, water has been relased frequently from the fast filling Kabini and Krishnarajasagar dams in Karnataka.
Water released from the dams in Karnataka reached Mettur on August 9 and since then there is an average inflow of 7,000 cusecs. From an inflow of 7,769 cusecs on Tuesday, it rose to 10,535 cusecs on Wednesday and to 21,947 cusecs on Thursday.
Following a steady rise in the inflows, the water level in the dam increased by three feet on a single day and by over 28 feet in the last 40 days. The storage level of the dam stood at 48.77 feet as on 8 am on Thursday and the outflow was kept at 700 cusecs, said sources.
Meanwhile, the State government has ordered release of 600 cusecs of water from the dam to serve the purposes of drinking water needs and to meet out the requirements of cattle in Salem, Namakkal and Erode districts.
From Thursday, water will be released continuously for 12 days. As the storage level in the dam is rising considerably, the farmers in delta regions have begun to smile with joy after several months of gloom.
Flood alert sounded on South pennar bank
The Krishnagiri district administration issued flood alert for people living along the course of the South Pennar river due to the surplus discharge from the Kelavarapalli dam in Hosur.
The Kelavarapalli (KRP) dam built across South Pennar and from where the river enters Tamil Nadu from Karnataka, has started receiving good inflows due to heavy rainfall in the catchment areas in the neighbouring state.
According to PWD sources, the inflow into the river is 2,570 cusecs on Thursday. The discharge from the dam is maintained at the level of 2,340 cusecs after the storage level had reached 43-ft against the full reservoir level of 44-ft.
With just one more foot for the dam to brim, the PWD officials opened the sluices for the surplus water to drain into South Pennar on the Tamil Nadu side. This will increase the storage level of KRP dam in Krishnagiri district.
The PWD officials, due to the opening of the dam, has issued flood alert for the people in villages living along the banks of South Pennar. This warning will continue till the situation becomes normal, PWD sources added.
