Mettur dam storage to build up from today

Officials of the Public Works Department (water resources department) at Mettur dam, said that the released quantum was expected to be ready by Thursday night or early Friday. PWD officials, however, said that they could confirm the exact quantity of water only after it reaches the dam. 

R Subramaniyan, Executive Engineer, Mettur dam, told DTNext that they would release the water, if the level touches or crosses the 90-foot mark for samba cultivation in the delta region. “However, the quantum of discharge may vary depending on the rainfall in the coming days. If the downpour is high, the discharge will be maintained at minimum level. In case there is poor rainfall, the discharge may be stepped up to 10,000 cusecs approximately,” he said. 

Further, during the nursery transplantation, the release would be increased as the process would require significant quantity of water. The discharge quantum for this period would be decided based on the status update that would be provided by PWD officials from Tiruchy, Thanjavur and Nagapattinam districts.

When asked about the communication from Central Water Commission at Biligundlu, the engineer replied, “CWC officials informed us that they observed a considerable rise in the flow at the Zero Point. We expect the water to reach Mettur dam soon and the storage is likely to increase from Friday morning.” The current inflow was 3,068 cusec and discharge 1,250 cusec, he added. 

Another engineer from Nagapattinam said “there is not much flow in the river as of now in the tail end region. In such a condition, if 10,000 cusec was released from the dam, it will take more than nine days to reach the district. Water will first reach Upper anaicut (Mukkombu), which is located 177 km away from Mettur dam, and then flow to tail end, 330 km away from the Stanley Reservoir.”

The water released from Mettur dam on an average would cover a distance of 35 to 40 km per day before reaching the delta areas, the engineer added.