12,000 cusecs of water to be discharged from Mettur from 3 pm

CHENNAI: Chief Minister MK Stalin on Sunday directed the officials of the Water Resources Department (WRD) to release 12,000 cusecs of water from the Mettur dam in Salem, from 3 pm. The quantity of water discharged downstream from the reservoir, which is the lifeline of the farmers in the delta region, would be enhanced based on the inflow of water from Karnataka's dams, he said.

After chairing a review meeting along with WRD Minister Duraimurugan, Additional Chief Secretary of WRD K Manivasan, and Chief Secretary Shiv Das Meena, the CM directed officials to take necessary precautionary measures to guarantee the safety of people living along the river banks and low-lying areas since water outflow from Mettur could further increase based on the inflow from Karnataka, and to move them to safer places.

The CM also directed the District Collectors who attended the meeting to chalk out plans with members of farmers’ associations to make use of the discharged water from Mettur to the optimum level. Efforts should be taken to store the water in water bodies, including ponds and lakes, to help irrigation activities to the optimum level, the CM added.

He noted that the Karnataka government has been discharging surplus water from four reservoirs - Krishna Raja Sagar (KRS), Kabini, Harangi, and Hemavathy - from July 17.

The increased outflow took the water storage level in the Mettur dam to 109.20 feet as against the full reservoir level of 120 feet at about 12 noon today. The cumulative inflow at Mettur reservoir at the time was 1.48 lakh cusecs.

Delta farmers on Friday had appealed to CM Stalin to order the early release of 25,000 cusecs of water from the Mettur dam.