CHENNAI: Heavy rainfall in the Cauvery catchment areas of Kerala and Karnataka has led to a sharp increase in inflow into the Kabini dam, prompting authorities to raise the discharge of surplus water.

Officials said water released from Karnataka's Kabini reservoir was expected to reach Biligundlu, the entry point of the Cauvery into Tamil Nadu, on Monday night and subsequently reach the Mettur reservoir on Tuesday.

"The combined discharge from the Kabini and Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) reservoirs in Karnataka continues to be around 27,000 cusecs. The released water is expected to reach Mettur on Tuesday," a Water Resources Department official in Mettur said.

Against the dam's full reservoir level of 2,284 feet, the water level has reached 2,281.43 feet. With inflows continuing to rise, surplus water is being released in phases as a precautionary measure to ensure the reservoir's safety.

The discharge, which stood at 12,000 cusecs the previous day, was increased to 25,000 cusecs as of 10 pm on Monday.

The water released from the Kabini dam reached Kollegal on Monday and is expected to reach Biligundlu, the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border point on the Cauvery, on Tuesday.