TIRUVANNAMALAI: Following heavy rains in Tiruvannamalai in the last few days and IMD's rainfall alert for September 17 and 18, the excess water is being released from the Kuppanatham dam across Cheyyar river in Chengam taluk in Tiruvannamalai. Collector K Tharpagaraj urged the people living on the banks of the dam to stay safe and alert and to not cross the river.
Due to the heavy rains in the last few days, the inflow to the dam has increased to 43 cubic feet per second and as a result, the water level of the dam has risen to 54.12 cubic feet on Wednesday.
The district administration started releasing water at around 4:30 pm at a rate of 100 cubic feet per second. Water will be released in a phased manner on a priority basis to the 47 lakes benefitting from the dam in Chengam, Kalasapakkam, Polur and Tiruvannamalai taluks, irrigating about 9,808 acres of land, according to a press release.
Usually when the water level in the dam rises above 54 feet, excess water is released from the dam. As of 10 am on Wednesday, the volume of water in the dam was around 576.50 cubic feet, while its total capacity being 700 million cubic feet. The total height of the dam is 59.04 feet.