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Surplus from Karnataka pushes up Mettur dam level to 65 feet
The surge in the flow of surplus water from Karnataka reservoirs has led to the water level in Mettur dam surpassing 65 feet. It has increased by 28 feet in less than a month.
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Coimbatore
The dam’s water level stood at 37 feet as against its full reservoir level of 120 feet on June 13. It rose to 65.15 feet at 8 am on Tuesday, following the copious inflow from Karnataka.
The inflow into the dam rose from 1,533 cusecs on Sunday morning to 14,334 cusecs by 8 am on Tuesday. Inflow into the dam increased further and may have reached up to 25,000 cusecs by evening.
There may be a further sharp increase in the coming days as discharge from Karnataka reservoirs have gone up,” said a Public Works Department (PWD) official.
At Biligundulu, the entry point to Tamil Nadu, the water inflow stood at 32,000 cusecs on Tuesday around 9.30 am. Increase in discharge from Kabini and Krishna Raja Sagar dams in Karnataka follows the incessant rains in its catchments areas.
The surplus water from Karnataka dams has been released since June 14. The PWD officials expressed hope that the dam could be opened once it reaches a comfortable level.
About 1,000 cusecs of water is released from the dam to serve the drinking water needs of the people. The steady rise in water flow 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.
R Kumaran, vice president of Tamil Nadu Vivasayigal Sangam Co-ordination Committee said “We are happy that the Mettur dam is fast filling up and water should be released at least for ‘Aadi perukku’ to help cultivation.”
Alert as Bhavani in spate
A flood alert was on Tuesday sounded to people living on the banks of Bhavani river in the district and downstream areas to move to safer places following release of surplus water from the Pilloor dam. The dam received inflow of 10,000 cusecs due to copious rains in the catchment areas in Coimbatore and Nilgiris districts and it may result in overflow, official sources said. As a precautionary measure, 6,000 cusecs was released into the river, a statement from District Collector TN Hariharan said. In view of this, people living on the banks of the river and downstream areas have been asked to move to safer places, he said. Official sources said the 50-foot-deep Siruvani dam, a major drinking water source to Coimbatore, is also nearly full.
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