CHENNAI: Discharge from Mettur dam has been increased to 18,000 cusecs on Thursday for Delta irrigation. From 15,000 cusecs, the water release has been increased to 18,000 cusecs for delta irrigation and 500 cusecs for canal irrigation.

Water was released from the reservoir for the delta irrigation on the customary date of June 12. With the rains almost receding in the Cauvery catchment areas, the inflow into the dam reduced drastically to 5,312 cusecs. As inflow into the dam is less than the discharge, the water storage level in the reservoir has begun to reduce.

From 117.02 feet on Wednesday, the water storage level dropped by nearly a foot to 116.28 feet on Thursday. At Biligundlu, the entry point of Cauvery into Tamil Nadu, witnessed an inflow of around 6,000 cusecs.

Meanwhile, in view of holidays, a large number of tourists flocked to the Hogenakkal Falls in Dharmapuri to have a refreshing bath in the falls and took coracle rides.