Tamil Nadu: Water flow through Ellis Saddle stops as inflow drops

COIMBATORE: As the inflow to the Mettur dam decreased, the release of water through 16 vents at Ellis Saddle was stopped on Sunday.

The surplus water was released through the sluices after the reservoir reached its Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 120 feet on 29 June. Since then, the dam has witnessed a steady inflow of over 30,000 cusecs.

After nearly a fortnight, the inflow dropped to 22,500 cusecs on Sunday morning and thereby the release of surplus water through the 16 vents was stopped.

Now, the discharge of water into Cauvery is primarily through the dam’s powerhouse and the tunnel powerhouse for irrigation purposes.

The dam’s storage level, which is at 120 feet, is likely to decrease in the coming days.

With the inflow dropping to 20,000 cusecs at Biligundlu, the entry point of the Cauvery into Tamil Nadu from Karnataka, the Dharmapuri Collector, R Sadheesh, on Sunday ordered the lifting of the ban on coracle operations; however, the ban on bathing in Hogenakkal falls continued for the 18th consecutive day.

However, the oarsmen stopped the operations in protest, demanding that coracle services be permitted from Chinnar to Kuttaru, when the inflow surges up to 50,000 cusecs and in ‘Mamarathukadavu’, when the water level reaches up to 30,000 cusecs.

Officials of the revenue department held talks with the coracle operators; however, they refused to relent.

A large number of tourists, who turned up at Hogenakkal for the weekend, returned disappointed as coracles were not operated despite lifting the ban.