Mettur dam filling up fast; to reach full capacity soon

COIMBATORE: Water level in the Stanley Reservoir in Mettur is inching fast towards its maximum reservoir level of 120 feet. As on Monday night, the dam was barely two feet short of reaching its brim.

“The inflow has dropped to below one lakh cusecs in the evening and is going down further due to a drop in water realised at Biligundlu. Therefore, it is uncertain for the dam to get filled up by night,” said an official of the Mettur reservoir.

At 4 pm, the dam’s storage level stood at 118.20 feet and storage of 90.34 TMC, while the inflow was at 1.05 lakh cusecs. The inflow came down further to 91,368 cusecs at 8pm from over 1.53 lakh cusecs on Sunday and Monday morning. The water storage level stood at 118.410 ft at 8 pm.

Water released from the dam, which was increased gradually to 12,000 cusecs on Sunday night, was enhanced to 20,000 cusecs on Monday, noon and further to 23,000 cusecs at 6pm.

Water could not be opened on the customary date of June 12 due to poor storage position in the reservoir. However, an intense South West Monsoon turned the tides in favour of Tamil Nadu with surplus discharge from KRS and Kabini dams in Karnataka.

Meanwhile, tourists were not allowed to bathe in Hogenakkal Falls and coracle services remained suspended for the 14th consecutive day on Monday due to heavy flooding.

A flood alert continues to be in place in 12 districts in the downstream Cauvery basin.

The collectors of those districts were asked to take precautionary steps including evacuating people in low-lying areas and preventing their entry into water bodies.

Police and rescue personnel have also stepped up vigil along the course of the river as a precautionary measure.