TIRUPPUR: Due to heavy rain in the catchment areas, water level in the Amaravathi Dam reached its full capacity on Thursday night and for the first time, 36,000 cusecs of surplus water was released from it. Flood warning was issued to people living by the river banks.
As per the data provided by the district disaster management department, Tiruppur received a total of 963.50 mm of rainfall in 24 hours ending 8.30 am Friday. The maximum rainfall of 138 mm was recorded in Dam area and the Amaravathi Dam area received 110 mm of rain.
As a result, water level in Amaravathi dam reached 88 feet, against its full capacity of 90 feet. As a precautionary measure, officials discharged 2,000 cusecs of water from the dam which was gradually increased to 36,000 cusecs by Friday morning.
The discharge was reduced to 8,000 cusecs by Friday evening. This is the third time surplus water is being released from the dam after July and November.
Officials from the Water Resource Department (WRD) said rain is likely to intensify further in the dam’s catchment area. “The catchment area for Amaravathi Dam is huge. It’s water source is in Kodaikanal and Kerala. So, the dam always reaches its full capacity quickly.”
District Collector T Christuraj and WRD chief engineer S Murugesan (Coimbatore Region) inspected the dam on Friday. In a press release, Christuraj stated, “The volume of water discharge is likely to increase in the Amaravathi River. Therefore, people should avoid activities like taking bath or washing clothes in the river.”
Murugesan said, “36,000 cusecs of surplus water was released for the first time in the history of Amaravathi dam. The previous high was 18,000 cusecs in the year 2017.”
Water level in Thirumurthy Dam has also increased. A senior WRD official for Thirumurthy Dam, said, “On Friday evening, the water level in the dam was 52 feet against its full capacity of 60 feet . On Friday morning, it was 47 feet. Due to widespread rain, we reduced the amount of water released for the second zone of PAP irrigation as per the needs.”
Amanalingeswarar temple located at the foothills of Thirumoorthy Hills was flooded on Friday. Hence, tourists were banned from taking a bath at Panchalinga Falls.
Further, the district collector declared a holiday to schools on Friday. Motorists were affected due to water stagnation, and most of the main roads in the city were waterlogged.