MADURAI: Water level in the Vaigai dam has dipped below 34 feet, the lowest recorded for April in the past five years. With the decline, concerns are also mounting over drinking water availability in the temple city. Meanwhile, the Water Resources Department (WRD) has initiated a regulated release of water from the dam for the upcoming Chithirai festival.
According to official data, water level at the dam stood at 33.92 ft against its full height of 71 ft on Friday. Storage stood at 548 mcft out of 6,091 mcft capacity. While discharge was maintained as 572 cusecs, there was no inflow.
Despite the depleted storage, the government has ordered the release of 170 tmcft of water from April 24 to 29. In Madurai, 500 cusescs is being released through the Vaigai canal starting 6 am on Friday. Officials said it is aimed at facilitating the Chithirai festival, during which Lord Kallalagar enters the Vaigai (to be held on May 1), and recharging the riverbed to support drinking water scheme wells.WRD sources attributed the sharp decline in storage to lack of rainfall in the catchment areas. “If rains fail, there may be water scarcity by May,” an official said.
Activists have raised concerns over water quality. M Raja of Vaigai Makkal Iyakkam said reduced water release compared to previous years could worsen the impact of sewage mixing in the river. “Thousands of people will enter the river during the festival. Authorities must prevent sewage discharge into the waterbody,” he said.
Meanwhile, A Nagarajan of Tallakulam submitted a petition to Collector KJ Praveen Kumar seeking strict enforcement of the ban on hand-held spray pipe use during the festival. He claimed that using pipes to spray water at high pressure would cause damage to the processional deity.