Heavy inflow fills Mettur dam faster

Salem: The Mettur dam recorded its heaviest inflow of 1.3lakh cubic feet per second (cusecs) this year on Sunday evening, as the Cauvery continued to swell with rainwater. The dam also saw its water level increasing by 10ft during the period.
The inflow to the dam, which stood at 60,000cusecs on Saturday evening, rose to 90,000cusecs on Sunday morning before touching 1.3lakh cusecs around 8pm. The water level in the dam correspondingly saw a constant rise during the day, from75.8ft in the morning to 81.1ft in the evening. On Saturday night, the water level in the dam was 71ft.
A Public Works Department (PWD) official said, “At this rate of increase, we expect the dam to touch 100ft-mark, against the full reservoir level of 120ft, by Wednesday.” The outflow, however, has been maintained at 1,000cusecs, despite the heavy inflow, since rivers downstream were brimming due to widespread rain.
The quantum of water realized at Biligundulu, the entry point of the Cauvery in Tamil Nadu, also hovered around 1.15lakh cusecs to 1.30lakh cusecs during the day. PWD officials said they were expecting the quantum of water realized at Biligundulu to increase marginally or be on the same range on Sunday night and Monday morning, before dropping to a lesser quantum.
“The water released from the KRS and Kabini reservoirs in Karnataka has been brought down on Sunday evening to 70,000cusecs and 16,000cusecs, respectively. So, we might see a drop in inflow,’’ the PWD officer said. Rain in catchment areas of the Cauvery in Karantaka has also subsided. Officials, however, said this was not the highest inflow, as last year the dam had received up to 2.5lakh cusecs during the monsoon.
There was heavy flooding in Hogenakkal Falls and water overflowed into some of the wayside villages. Revenue, police and fire service personnel are constantly patrolling the river banks, asking villagers not to venture close to the river.
The Bhavanisagar dam in Erode too saw a steady rise in water level, aided by the release of surplus water from the Pillur dam upstream. According to PWD officials, the water level in the dam has touched 99.9ft against its full reservoir level of 105ft. The inflow to the dam was recorded at 7,517cusecs, up from 7,389cusecs in the morning. Around 1,000cusecs water is being released from the dam.