Flood alert issued as Hogenakkal receives over 1 lakh cusecs of water
As the combined surplus discharge from Kabini and KRS dams rose to 1.5 lakh cusecs, the water realized at Biligundlu, the entry point of River Cauvery into Tamil Nadu surged to one lakh cusecs on Friday evening.
An aerial view of the flooded Hogenakkal
COIMBATORE: A flood alert has been sounded along the banks of River Cauvery, which is in full spate following heavy discharge from Karnataka reservoirs.
As the combined surplus discharge from Kabini and KRS dams rose to 1.5 lakh cusecs, the water realized at Biligundlu, the entry point of River Cauvery into Tamil Nadu surged to one lakh cusecs on Friday evening.
From 84,000 cusecs on Friday, 3pm, the inflow rose to one lakh cusecs at 8pm resulting in heavy flooding in Cauvery. Dharmapuri District Collector K Shanthi said that 1.5 lakh cusecs of water has been discharged from Karnataka dams causing flooding in Hogenakkal.
“As inflow is going up further, a flood alert has been sounded to people living along the banks of River Cauvery. Joint teams of revenue department, fire and rescue personnel and police are patrolling along the river banks to prevent people from entering into the water body. Various departments have been pressed into action to take flood prevention measures,” the collector said.
Meanwhile, the Mettur dam is inching fast to reach 100 feet as against its full storage level of 120 feet as its inflow clocked 68,032 feet on Friday evening.
The dam reached storage of 95 feet on Friday, 5pm and is going up further.
Meanwhile, tourists were disallowed from bathing in Hogenakkal falls and coracle services remained suspended due to heavy flooding for the 11th consecutive day.