Tamil Nadu braces for flood as Cauvery inflow to touch 90,000 cusecs

SALEM: With Cauvery water gushing from Karnataka reservoirs to Tamil Nadu through Biligundulu - the entry point - expected to touch 80,000 to 90,000 cusecs on Monday morning, a flood alert has been issued to the people living along the banks of the Cauvery river in Salem district.

Salem district collector Rohini R Bhajibhakare issued the alert on Sunday morning as water release from the Karnataka reservoirs increased steadily raising the inflow at Hogenakkal.

Rohini said people in low-lying areas along the Cauvery banks from Biligundulu to Mettur have been advised to move to higher planes and make arrangements for the safety of their livestock. The disaster management control room at the Salem collectorate would be monitoring the flood situation round the clock, she said, and urged people to call 1077 for any emergency.

The collector said 80,000 cusecs was currently being released from the Karnataka reservoirs into the Cauvery, and on Sunday, the realisation of the water at Biligundulu was 45,000 cusecs. The flow is expected to touch 80,000 to 90,000 cusecs on Monday morning. The water level in the Mettur dam, which stood at 79.45 ft on Saturday, rose and touched 83.5ft on Sunday evening.

PWD team camping at Mettur dam

In the past two days alone, the water level has increased by nearly 8 ft. For now, officials are letting out only 1,000 cusecs of water from Mettur for drinking purposes.

“Once the level in the Mettur dam reaches 90 feet, a report would be sent to the state government, for the chief minister to take a call on opening sluice gates to release water for irrigation,” she said.

A team of PWD officials are camping at the Mettur dam to keep track of the situation. A PWD official said that in 2013, there was a high inflow of more than 1.5 lakh cusecs into Biligundulu, but there was a lull during subsequent years.

After five years, the state was witnessing such high realisation of water from Karnataka at Biligundulu, he said.