Biligundulu gets 1 lakh cusecs; Mettur dam above 100 ft again

COIMBATORE: Inflow into Mettur Dam crossed over 90,000 cusecs on Tuesday and is rising further following heavy discharge from Karnataka reservoirs.

Copious inflow led the dam to cross the 100 feet mark for the 68th time so far. It was at 102.12 feet on Tuesday evening. In fact, the water storage level in the dam, which was above 100 feet for 257 days since October 24 last year, dropped below that mark to 98 feet only on this Monday morning.

From 2,141 cusecs on July 9, the inflow rose to 19,181 cusecs on Monday night to a sharp 50,576 cusecs on Tuesday morning and further to 90,873 cusecs by evening. As inflow is on the rise at Biligundulu, the entry point to Tamil Nadu, more water is likely to flow into the dam.

Around one lakh cusecs of water was realised at 6 am on Tuesday and it increased to 1.10 lakh cusecs at 3 pm at Biligundulu. Following heavy inflow, the Central Water Commission authorities are maintaining a round the clock vigil. Due to heavy floods, Dharmapuri district administration has banned tourists and suspended coracle services at Hogenakkal. As Cauvery River is in spate, people living in low lying villages along the river banks, including ‘Ootamalai’, ‘Alambadi’, ‘Chatram’ and ‘Mudalai Pannai’ were asked to move to safer areas.

Also, the district administration has made temporary staying arrangements in schools for the convenience of people from low lying villages. People were advised not to venture into the river to bathe or wash clothes.