COIMBATORE: Major water resources of the Coimbatore district are all set to reach their respective full storage capacities leading to the discharge of surplus water through the shutters of the dam on the same day.
Owing to the incessant rains which started picking up early in the current Southwest Monsoon season, the waterbodies and reservoirs in and around the district have been receiving a tremendous inflow of rainwater and are filling fast now.
The Pillur Dam near Mettupalayam in Coimbatore, which is the major drinking water source of Coimbatore, is all set to reach its full storage capacity of 100 ft for the second time this year, thanks to the ongoing monsoon season rains.
Its water level increased by over 15 feet in a single day — from 82 ft on Sunday to 97 ft by Monday — owing to the heavy rains in its water catchment areas.
As a result, water is being discharged from all four shutters of the dam. At present, over 14,000 cusecs of water is being released into the Bhavani River from the dam.
In view of this, the police personnel and local body officials in Mettupalayam have issued a flood warning to people living near the shores of the Bhavani River. They have instructed the people to stay away from the waters and refrain from getting into the river for taking bath or washing clothes.
Meanwhile, the Siruvani Dam in Kerala, another major drinking water source of Coimbatore, is also inching closer to the Restricted Water Storage level on Monday, leading the officials to open its shutters.
The water level in the dam, which was 39 ft on Saturday and 41 ft on Sunday, increased to 43.13 ft on Monday after its water catchment areas of the dam received a heavy rainfall of 22 mm, 70 mm and 147 mm in the past three days.
Although the dam has a FLR (Full Reservoir Level) of 49.53 ft, the surplus water will be released once the water level nears the Restricted Water Level of 44.61 ft set by the Kerala Irrigation and Water Resources Department.
As the water level is nearing the restricted water level, the officials have started releasing the surplus water from the dam on Monday. Currently, around 99.76 MLD of water is being drawn from the dam and is supplied to over seven villages and over 20 wards of the Coimbatore City Municipal Corporation (CCMC), against the agreed water supply of 101.4 MLD.