MAYILADUTHURAI: Cauvery river water released from Mettur dam on June 12 for aiding kuruvai cultivation in the delta region reached the district in the early hours of Tuesday. The river water would irrigate the seasonal paddy cultivation over 78,000 hectares in the district, PWD-WRD sources said.
The river water flowed into the district at its entry point near Thiruvalangadu around 1 am on Tuesday. Later in the morning Collector AP Mahabharathi and other officials welcomed the river near Kuthalam. V Shanmugam, WRD senior executive engineer, said,
"The special desilting (of canals) works have been completed. We are expecting the water to reach the tail-end regulator at Melaiyur in a day, following which it will be released into channels for irrigation of fields.” According to WRD, the inflow at Mettur dam as on Tuesday is 106 cusecs while the outflow is maintained at around 10,000 cusecs.
The storage level is 98 feet as against its full reservoir level (FRL) of 120 feet. Further down the river’s course, at the Grand Anicut (Kallanai), the outflow is 3,152 cusecs. A total of 3,153 cusecs of the river water is being released into the Vennaru while 1,102 cusecs is being released into Grand Anicut Canal (GAC).
The Cauvery water, which reached the Moovalur regulator on Tuesday afternoon, passed through Kaviri Thula Kattam and would be reaching the tail-end regulator in Melaiyur near Poompuhar, which is the final point of the river. A Ramalingam, a farmer-representative from the district said, "The district administration and WRD should ensure distribution to the last of the irrigation channels."