COIMBATORE: A flood alert has been issued to people living along the banks of the Bhavani river due to heavy discharge from the Pillur dam in Coimbatore.
The copious downpour in the catchment areas in Kerala and the Nilgiris led to a sharp increase in inflow into the dam, which is currently just three feet short of reaching its full reservoir capacity of 100 feet.
Water level in the dam rose to 97 feet on Monday, 2.30 am from 92.50 feet on Sunday, 11 pm.
The entire surplus inflow is discharged by opening four sluices of the dam to maintain its maximum capacity of 97 feet.
On Monday afternoon, around 14.160 cusecs were released from the dam, resulting in flooding in the Bhavani River.
Due to a spate in water flow, the authorities of district administration, municipality, taluk and police have appealed to people living in areas along the river bank in Mettupalayam, Sirumugai and other low-lying areas to move to safety. The villagers were also warned against bathing, washing clothes and fishing in the flooded waters.
At midnight on May 25 , the four sluices were opened as the dam reached its maximum storage level of 97 feet following heavy rains. Similarly, the storage level in Siruvani dam has reached 43.13 feet on Monday, 8 am as against its full capacity of 49.53 feet; however, the water level in the dam is restricted to 44.61 feet by Kerala over safety reasons.