Due to heavy rains in Karnataka, Kabini and KRS dams are overflowing. Due to this, the entire excess water is being discharged into the Cauvery. The flow of water to Mettur dam increased from 81,552 cubic feet per second last night to 93,828 cubic feet yesterday morning and 1,23,184 cubic feet at night. Similarly, the dam water level rose to 103.13 feet last night from 99.11 feet yesterday morning. The water reached the 16-eye sluice section of the dam.
As the dam water level crossed 100 feet, Water Resources Department Executive Engineer Sivakumar, Assistant Executive Engineer Selvaraj, Assistant Engineer Satish and staff sprinkled flowers on the dam and worshiped Cauvery. 1,000 cubic feet of water per second is being released from the dam for drinking water. Dam water storage is 68.96 TMC. In the last 12 days, the dam water level has increased by 58.48 feet and water storage by 53.26 TMC.
On June 17 last year, the water level of Mettur dam was 100 feet. It crossed 100 feet yesterday after 405 days. The water level has crossed 100 feet for the 71st time in the history of the dam. It is noteworthy that in 2005-06, the dam water level remained above 100 feet for a maximum of 428 consecutive days. As the water flow has exceeded one lakh cubic feet, the officials of the water resources department conducted an inspection in the 16 eye sluices, right bank and left bank areas of the dam yesterday.
In this case, in the letter sent yesterday by the Central Water Resources Authority to the 9 District Collectors namely Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Salem, Erode, Namakkal, Karur, Trichy, Thanjavur and Nagapattinam, it has been informed that ‘the water flow to Mettur dam will exceed 1.45 lakh cubic feet by tomorrow (today) evening’.
Officials said, “The total water reserve of the dam is 93 TMC. At present, there is 69 TMC of water. As the water is coming to the dam more than one lakh cubic feet per second, we expect the dam to reach its full capacity soon. The government will take a decision on releasing water from the dam for irrigation.”
Meanwhile, water was flowing at the rate of 1.35 lakh cubic feet per second in Okenakal Cauvery river in Dharmapuri district yesterday evening. Accordingly, emergency camps have been set up at 6 places namely Okanagan Primary School, Ootamalai Middle School, High School and 3 private halls, where the officials have made arrangements to accommodate the people. Also, officers are continuously monitoring the areas from Okanagan to Nagamarai.
In this situation, Trichy District Collector Pradeep Kumar told the public that due to continuous heavy rains in the catchment area of Cauvery in Karnataka and Kerala, 1.45 lakh cubic feet of water is expected to be released from Krishnaraja Sagar Dam and Kabini Dam in Karnataka and reach Mettur Dam.
It is also expected that Mettur Dam will reach its full capacity today and water will be released for irrigation of the Cauvery Delta. Therefore, flood warning has been issued to the people and laundry workers in Cauvery coastal villages to be alert and to check the water flow periodically and to move to safe places if necessary.
