Mettur dam level to rise as Karnataka steps up discharge

The dam’s storage level stood at 50.32 feet against its full reservoir capacity of 120 feet at 4 pm on Thursday. “The dam’s level rose from 40 feet on June 15 to the existing level in a week’s time,” said a PWD official from Mettur dam. The inflow into the dam came down from 4,586 cusecs at 8 am to 3,485 cusecs at 4 pm on Thursday.

However, there was a possibility that the inflow to the Mettur dam would witness a steep rise as Karnataka has stepped up the discharge from the Kabini dam. “About 23,000 cusecs of water is being released from the Karnataka reservoirs at 11.30 pm on Wednesday. It will take a couple of days for the water to reach Tamil Nadu,” the official added.

Water released from Kabini dam was increased gradually from 3,000 cusecs on Wednesday morning, 15,000 cusecs in evening and 23,000 cusecs at night around 11.30 pm.

A decision on opening the dam could be taken only when the storage capacity of the dam reaches a comfortable level. About 500 cusecs of water was released from the dam for drinking purpose.

The increase of water inflow into the Mettur dam has given a glimmer of hope to thousands of farmers in the delta districts who are waiting eagerly for the release of water from the dam for cultivation purpose. For the seventh consecutive year, the dam has missed its customary date of June 12 due to poor storage level.

About sixteen lakh acres of land in Salem, Namakkal, Erode, Karur, Tiruchy, Tanjore, Thiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Pudukottai and Cuddalore districts are dependent on water from Mettur dam.

The copious inflow of water into the dam has raised a glimmer of hope for thousands of farmers in the delta region as the PWD officials are hopeful of opening the dam once it crosses the 80-feet storage level.