Just 20,000 cusecs flowing into Mettur

The inflow into the dam, which clocked a peak of up to 1.7 lakh cusecs a week ago, has dropped to mere 20,000 cusecs on Monday evening. “From an average of 40,000 cusecs on Sunday, the inflow into the dam dropped to 29,000 cusecs on Monday at 8 am and further down to 20,000 cusecs in the evening,” said an official of the Public Works Department (PWD) in Mettur. 

The Mettur dam, which reached its full capacity of 120 feet on July 23, recorded the water level at 120.19 feet on Monday. The dam reached 100 feet on July 17 and thereafter, water was released for the purpose of irrigation in the Delta districts on July 19 by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami. 

As water received at Biligundulu has been on a steady decline, the PWD officials believed that there may be a further drop in inflow in future. Currently, the amount of discharge and that of the inflow is kept same considering the safety of the structure. 

Meanwhile, farmers sought to divert the surplus water to fill up lakes and ponds for the purpose of agricultural. 

“A huge quantum of water is being drained into the sea. The government must formulate a scheme to take the surplus water from the Mettur dam to Anthiyur, almost 25 kilometres away, for the purpose of irrigation. A vast stretch of land remains arid due to the lack of water. Also, the existing canals located in Mettur should be desilted to hold up to 5,000 cusecs from its present 1,000 cusecs,” said P Thirugnanasampantham, state council member of All India Kisan Sabha.