Bhavani river in spate as Pillur dam fills up

COIMBATORE: A flood alert has been sounded for people living along the banks of river Bhavani due to heavy discharge from Pillur dam.

Incessant rains in the Nilgiris and Kerala has led to a surge in water level in Pillur dam. The dam reached 97 feet as against its full reservoir level of 100 feet on Wednesday and is maintained at the same level by discharging the entire quantum of water flowing into the reservoir.

From an inflow of 6,000 cusecs on Wednesday, 6am, the inflow into the dam more than doubled to over 14,000 cusecs on Thursday, 5am. Therefore, the water level in the dam also rose from 94.50 feet to 97 feet within a day.

As the dam reached its maximum capacity, all the sluices of the reservoir was opened to discharge 14,160 cusecs in the early morning hours. However, the discharge was reduced to 12,140 cusecs around 8am, 10,120 cusecs around 9.30 am and further down to 8,060 cusecs at 11 am. Due to heavy discharge, river Bhavani was in full spate inundating some plantain farms located along the course of the waterway.

Following this, a flood alert has been issued to people living along the banks of the river. Meanwhile, schools in Gudalur and Pandalur taluks in Nilgiri district were declared a holiday on Thursday due to heavy downpour. However, educational institutions in Ooty, Coonoor, Kotagiri and Kundha taluks functioned as usual. Mudslides were reported in areas in Padanthorai and Sankarankolli localities.