With an inflow at over 2,000 cusecs, the water level at the Bhavanisagar Dam is inching closer to the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 105 feet.
At 4 p.m. on Sunday, the inflow into the reservoir was 5,025 cusecs while the water level stood at 103.86 feet. The storage was 31.84 tmc ft against the capacity of 32.800 tmc ft.
The discharge was 3,500 cusecs into River Bhavani and 1,500 cusecs into Lower Bhavani Project canal. The discharge into Kalingarayan Canal and Arakankottai-Thadapalli canals was stopped due to rain.
A Public Works Department official said the water level was expected to touch 105 feet by Monday afternoon, after which surplus water would be discharged through the spillways into River Bhavani.
Due to heavy rain in the catchment areas of the Nilgiris, the reservoir had been receiving copious water in the past month, the official added.
Since the construction of the dam in 1955, water level touched 105 feet on November 16, 1960, December 29, 1978, January 1, 1979 and on November 8, 2019. “The water level attained FRL only four times in the dam’s 66-year history,” added the official.
The reservoir, also called the Lower Bhavani Dam, helps in irrigating 2.07 lakh acre through the LBP canal, 17,654 acre through the Thadapalli Canal, 15,743 acre through the Kalingarayan Canal and 6,850 acre through the Arakankottai Canal.
Mettur Dam
Water level at Stanley Reservoir in Mettur Dam is nearing 117 feet against the FRL of 120 feet on Sunday.
Officials of the Public Works Department said, at 7 a.m., the inflow stood at 29,380 cusecs and the discharge at 400 cusecs into the canal and 100 cusecs into River Cauvery.
The water level stood at 116.10 feet while the storage was 89.38 tmc ft against the capacity of 93.50 tmc ft.
During the corresponding period last year, water level stood at 95.25 feet while the inflow was 7,924 cusecs and the discharge was 13,121 cusecs. The storage was 58.85 tmc ft.