Flood alert in 12 TN dists as Mettur discharge clocks 1.75L cusecs

COIMBATORE: Flood alert was sounded in 12 districts on Tuesday as discharge from Stanley Reservoir in Mettur surged to 1.75 lakh cusecs.

Discharge from the dam may go up further as Biligundlu, the entry point of the river into Tamil Nadu from Karnataka, has clocked an inflow of 1.85 lakh cusecs. Also, more water is likely to flow into Tamil Nadu as combined release from KRS and Kabini reservoirs in Karnataka has gone past 2 lakh cusecs.

The entire surplus inflow into the Mettur dam, which stays in its full reservoir level of 120 feet since 16 July, has been let out. From 1.20 lakh cusecs on Monday morning, the inflow rose to 1.30 lakh cusecs on Tuesday, 8am, 1.60 lakh cusecs at 4.30pm and further to 1.75 lakh cusecs around night.

As the discharge from the dam is surging sharply, the Public Works Department has sounded a flood alert to Salem, Namakkal, Erode, Karur, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Tiruchy, Pudukottai, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Cuddalore districts.

The respective district Collectors were advised to take necessary precautionary measures in the downstream areas of Cauvery. A similar flood alert has been issued in five districts as discharge from Krishnagiri Reservoir Project (KRP) dam increased to 16,250 cusecs from around 10,000 cusecs on Tuesday afternoon.

A flood alert has been issued to people living along the Thenpennai River (South Pennar River) in Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram and Cuddalore districts as the entire inflow into the dam is let out. The dam stays in its full reservoir level of 50.65 feet as against its full reservoir level of 52 feet.

Meanwhile, more than 40 families in Komarapalayam and Pallipalayam in Namakkal district began to relive their struggle-filled days as their residential neighbourhood got inundated once again. It was hardly a week for these families to have returned to their houses from relief camps as they were once again moved to the camp now.

Namakkal Collector Shreya P Singh, who took stock of the flooded areas, said that seven relief camps have been ready to accommodate people in flood prone areas when discharge from Mettur dam increases. “During the last flooding, 698 families were sheltered in relief camps across the district. Similarly, seven relief camps are ready to shelter people and provide them with basic necessities like food this time. Medical teams have also been deputed,” she told the media.