Mettur dam sees 7-ft rise in storage in a single day

COIMBATORE: With heavy discharge continuing from Karnataka reservoirs, the Stanley Reservoir in Mettur is fast inching towards its full storage level.

The water level in the dam rose steadily by seven feet within a day, raising hope among Public Works Department (PWD) authorities and farmers from the Delta region for the reservoir to reach its full capacity in the next few days.

From 100.44 feet on Tuesday morning, the water level in the dam increased to 105.81 feet on Wednesday morning and further to 107.45 feet by evening.

The heavy downpour in the Cauvery catchment areas led to a copious discharge from Kabini and Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS) dams in Karnataka since Tuesday.

From 98,208 cusecs on Tuesday night, the water realised at Mettur rose to 1,00,153 lakh cusecs on Wednesday afternoon. However, the inflow reduced to 93,711 cusecs by evening. The storage level in the dam continues to shoot up as discharge for Delta irrigation is only at 15,000 cusecs, lesser than the inflow. Meanwhile, the Hogenakkal falls in Dharmapuri remain out of bounds for tourists due to heavy flooding.

Water entered several houses in lowlying villages along the banks of River Cauvery, which has been in full spate over the last three days. The district administration continued to sound flood alert in vulnerable areas and asked people to move to safer areas.

A joint team of police, fire service personnel and revenue department authorities have taken up round the clock patrolling along the Cauvery banks to prevent any untoward incidents.