15,000 cusecs released into Cauvery from dams in Karnataka

“A flood alert has been issued only in the upstream areas in the neighbouring state. The released water may reach Mettur anytime on Sunday evening or by Monday,” said an official of the Public Works Department (PWD) in Mettur. As on Friday at 8 am, the storage level in Mettur dam stood at 72.160 feet against its full reservoir level of 120 feet.

The dam realised an inflow of 2,411 cusecs and the discharge was 5,000 cusecs. It had a storage of 34,583 mcft. The surge in inflow into the dam in the coming days has brought hope as water level in the dam began to dip drastically ever since it was opened up on the customary date of June 12 to meet the irrigation needs of farmers in the Delta districts.

About 16 lakh acres in Salem, Namakkal, Erode, Karur, Tiruchy, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Ariyalur, Perambalur, Pudukottai and Cuddalore districts are dependent on water from the Mettur dam.

Bhavnisagar dam filling up fast

Meanwhile, the Bhavanisagar dam in Erode district is also filling up fast due to copious inflow following heavy downpour in the catchment areas. The water level in the Bhavanisagar dam surged to 94.98 feet following a steady inflow as against its full reservoir level of 105 feet at 4 pm on Friday. The inflow was at 6,875 cusecs and the discharge was 500 cusecs in Arakankottai and Thadapalli canals and 600 cusecs in River Bhavani.