With fresh inflows, discharge from Mettur stepped up for Delta crops

COIMBATORE: With rains pounding the catchment areas of the Cauvery River the past few days and heavy inflow expected to Mettur dam in the coming days, water release from the dam for delta irrigation was increased from 10,000 cusecs to 12,000 cusecs on Wednesday.

Water released from KRS and Kabini dams in Karnataka reached Mettur dam at 9.45 pm on Wednesday.

Earlier, at 6 am Wednesday, Biligundlu released 5,100 cusecs, surging to 12,000 by evening. With rains continuing in catchment areas of Karnataka dams, over 25,000 cusecs were discharged from KRS and Kabini reservoirs together.

In view of a spate in the Cauvery River, the Dharmapuri district administration has suspended coracle services in Hogenakkal as a precaution. Also, joint teams of police, Fire and Rescue Services and the revenue department have begun monitoring the banks of Cauvery and have asked people in low-lying areas to move to safer places. “There has been a delay in the water from reaching Mettur as the entire course of the river bed remains dry. We expect the water to flow into Mettur dam by Wednesday night,” said a PWD official.

At 8 am on Wednesday, the dam had a depleting storage of 65.800 feet as against its full reservoir level of 120 feet and recorded a meagre inflow of 177 cusecs.

Meanwhile, heavy rains disrupted normal life in the Nilgiris causing tree falls, minor landslips and damage to a few houses.