SALEM/ERODE/COIMBATORE/TIRUCHY: As rains continue to lash Tamil Nadu, water in Salem’s Mettur dam inched close to full capacity of 120 ft on Monday. Salem district received 15 cm rainfall on Sunday and the dam’s water level stood at 117.61 ft on Monday and the storage at 89.71 TMC against its full capacity of 93.47 TMC.
Collectors of 12 delta districts are regularly being alerted on the level in the dam. Speaking to reporters, Collector Karmegam said, “The water level in the dam has almost touched 118 ft. It will reach the full capacity by Tuesday evening. Meanwhile, people along the banks and in low-lying areas had been alerted”.
The body of an octogenarian farmer in Salem who was washed away in flash floods near Gangavalli on Sunday, was recovered on Monday. S Arumugam, a resident near Gangavalli tried to cross Swetha river, which flows between Tammampatti and Gangavalli on Sunday afternoon. Water swelled and the farmer was washed away.
Meanwhile, major dams of the Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP) in Coimbatore are brimming, thanks to the rains. “We maintain nine dams under the PAP. The inflow to Sholyar, Parambikulam and Aliyar dams have been swelling over the last two months after rain in catchment areas under South West monsoon,” said P Muthusamy, chief engineer PWD-Water Resources, Coimbatore. With dams full, officials are sure of catering to irrigation of 1.5 lakh acres in Coimbatore and Tiruppur.
Similarly, in Erode, PWD officials began releasing 6,500 cusecs from Bhavanisagar dam on Monday as the level inched close to 103 ft, two ft short of full capacity. Tiruchy’s farmers too, have come under the receiving end of the showers as it left acres of Samba paddy saplings inundated. They fear that the heavy rains forecast for the next few days would destroy the seasonal cultivation. Owing to rough weather at sea, the Fisheries Department has asked fishermen not to venture to the sea.