The water in Mettur dam is expected to touch the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) once again, the second time, in 20 days, on Saturday.
The inflow which stood at 16,969 cusecs (cubic feet per second) on Friday morning, started steadily rising since then and stood at 61,932 cusecs at 4 p.m.
With the heavy discharge of about 1.4 lakh cucsecs of water from the Kabini and Krishnaraja Sagar dams in Karnataka due to widespread rainfall in the catchment areas, the realisation of water in Cauvery at Mettur is expected to enhance further in the night.
Already the water level in the Mettur dam is at 117.32 ft against its full level of 120 ft and the storage level at 89.26 tmc (thousand million cubic ft) against the dam’s full capacity of 93.47 tmc. “With higher inflow, the water is expected to reach its FRL once again on Saturday,” officials said. The water touched the FRL on July 23.
The Public Works Department (PWD) which stepped up the discharge to 30,000 cusecs in Cauvery for the delta region on Thursday evening, further increased it to 35,000 cusecs on Friday.
Another 800 cusecs of water was being discharged in the east and west canals of the dam for the farm operations in the three western districts of Salem, Erode and Namakkal.
Warning issued
The Salem and Namakkal district administrations have already issued flood warning. A team of PWD was closely monitoring the inflow. The revenue, PWD, police and fire and rescue services personnel were patrolling the low lying areas on the banks of the river in Mettur, Edappadi and Sankagiri blocks in Salem district. and in Kumarapalayam, Paramathivelur areas in Namakkal district downstream of Mettur to ensure the safety and security of the people and their belongings.
“The official machinery is on full alert and is watching the situation closely,” Rohini R. Bhajibhakare, Salem Collector, told presspersons. The motor boat service across Cauvery from Poolampatti near Edappadi to the villages in Erode district was suspended on Friday.
Meanwhile, the inflow into Hogenakkal was 90,000 cusecs on Friday evening, calling for reinforced safety protocols by the revenue officials.
The inflow increased since morning, when the water level in Biligundlu was 60,000 cusecs. An alert was sounded by the district administration on the rise in water levels following Karnataka announcing an increase in outflow from Kabini and Krishna Raja Sagar reservoirs.
On Thursday, a temporary ban on coracle service for tourists was announced and bathing in the river was disallowed. The inflow is slated to go up overnight, and revenue officials have been directed to monitor safety protocols.