Therefore, surplus water was discharged resulting in heavy flooding in several parts of Salem, Erode and Namakkal districts in the Western region. A flood alert was also issued in the Cauvery basin districts with River Cauvery in high spate.

As rains eased in the catchment areas, the inflow into the dam began to reduce from 1.45 lakh cusecs on Tuesday morning, to 1.25 lakh cusecs in the afternoon and further down to 75,000 cusecs in the evening. Notably, the inflow has nosedived by 1.20 lakh cusecs in a single day.

Officials said that the entire inflow of 75,000 cusecs has been discharged from the dam.

Over 1,000 people, who were displaced from flooded areas in Namakkal, Salem and Erode and sheltered in temporary relief camps, heaved a sigh of relief as water began to recede in their localities. However, it may take a few more days for them to move back to their houses.