Sathanur dam may hit full level by next week

TIRUVANNAMALAI: The Sathanur dam is expected to be opened soon for irrigation once the structure reaches its full level (FRL), hopefully in December, official sources said.

The dam at present has a storage of 117 feet as against its total height of 119 feet. The water spread is around 6,886 mcft (million cubic feet) against its full tank level of 7,321 mcft. Storage at present stands at 94.05 per cent, officials said. Officials said that water could be stored up to 117 feet till the end of November and then, depending on the rainfall activity in the catchment areas, the level would be raised to 119 feet.

The inflow on Wednesday was around 1640 cusecs and the discharge was maintained at 2330 cusecs. “Water will not be released through the dam’s right and left bank canals, which caters to a total ayacut of 50,000 acres in Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram, and Kallakurichi districts. The good inflow and storage had resulted in increased power generation, which was being fed into the state grid officials said.

The discharge from the dam for irrigation would depend on the outcome of a meeting at the Tiruvannamalai Collector’s office, where farmers along with PWD officials in charge of the dam, would be consulted next month, sources said.