COIMBATORE/ MADURAI/ TIRUCHY: With heavy inflow of water from Kabini and KSR dams in Karnataka and also rainfall in catchment areas, major dams in Tamil Nadu have been filling up fast bringing joy to farmers.
On Monday, water level in Hogenakkal reached 1.25 lakh cusecs, with inflow expected to go up in the coming days. Because of heavy inflow of water from Karnataka, the Mettur dam, the largest in the state, reached its full capacity of 120 feet for the fourth time this year on July 25. Currently, over a lakh cusec of water is being released into the river because of the continued heavy upstream water flow.
The surplus water from Mettur released into the Cauvery reached the Mukkombu barrage on Monday. To ensure preparedness and response, a rescue team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) arrived in Tiruchy on Monday, and a flood alert has also been issued to people living on the banks of the Cauvery.
The Mukkombu barrage began receiving one lakh cusecs of water from Monday afternoon. Officials released 23,000 cusecs into the Cauvery, 73,000 cusecs into the Kollidam, and 1,000 cusecs into the northern channels. The inflow is expected to rise to 1.15 lakh cusecs by night.
Around 22,000 cusecs of water were discharged into the Cauvery, 6,000 cusecs into the Kollidam on Sunday, when total inflow was 29,000 cusecs, officials added. Consequently, there is a possibility that 100,000 cubic feet of surplus water may be discharged from Kallanai into the Kollidam river at any time.
Likewise, the second largest dam in the state, Lower Bhavani dam (Bhavanisagar Dam) in Erode, has reached a height 100 feet out of its full capacity of 105 feet, leading to the increased release of water from Sunday. The Water Resources Department issued a flood alert to those living on the banks of the river. The last time surplus water was released from the Lower Bhavani dam was in October 2022.
Similarly, Amaravathi Dam in Tiruppur was in its full capacity for over 45 days now, and around 7,000 cusecs of surplus water was released from the dam. In southern Tamil Nadu, the Mullai Periyar Dam’s storage crossed 135 feet on Monday. The dam’s full capacity is 152 feet, and the permitted level of storage is 142 feet. With IMD issuing heavy rain warning in Kerala for the next couple of days, inflow into the dam is likely to remain high.
In the Vaigai dam, storage crossed 66.6 feet on Monday against its total capacity of 71 feet. The dam is receiving over 1,989 cusecs inflow and the outflow is maintained at 869 cusecs.
With major reservoirs getting filled, farmers in the state hoped that they would get adequate water for irrigation during this crop season.
A senior official from the Water Resources Department said the inflow into the Mettur reservoir increased sharply on Monday. “In the morning, the inflow was 82,785 cusecs, but by evening it rose to 1,01,221 cusecs,” the official said.
As per the Supreme Court’s direction, Karnataka is supposed to release 9.9100 tmcft of water to Tamil Nadu at Biligundulu in June. However, due to good southwest monsoon rains, Tamil Nadu received 42.2586 tmcft — an excess of 33.0686 tmcft.
Till July 24, the state received 63.8415 tmcft of water, which is much higher than the expected 24.1858 tmcft for the period.