ERODE/TIRUPPUR: With a continuous decline in water inflow, and water being released for irrigation, the water storage level at the Lower Bhavani Dam, the state’s second largest dam, has dropped to 8.2 tmcft (32.8). However, Water Resources Department officials believe the current water reserves are sufficient to meet the drinking water requirements for the summer.
Lakhs of people and farmers in Coimbatore, Tiruppur and Erode districts rely on Bhavani River for drinking water and irrigation needs. Of these, 27 drinking water projects in Erode district alone rely on water released from the Lower Bhavani Dam.
Due to a lack of rain in the catchment areas, the inflows at the dam continue to be low. On Wednesday, inflow was 168 cusecs while 2,300 cusecs of water was released for the Lower Bhavani Project (LBP) canal irrigation, 700 cusecs for the Thadapalli-Arakkankottai irrigation, and 200 cusecs into Bhavani River.
Water storage in the dam has dropped to 8.2 tmc (63.10 feet) against the full level of 32.8 tmc (105 feet).
A senior WRD official said, "Water can be released for irrigation until the dam's water storage drops to 4 tmc. Then, 2.5 tmc will be allocated for drinking water requirements, and 1.5 tmc will be accounted for as dead storage. Numerous drinking water schemes rely on Bhavani River. However, in the current environment, we can meet the drinking water demand for this summer with the current water level. By then, the monsoon will come to our aid. The local bodies and drinking water schemes dependent on Bhavani River will not be affected."
"The release of water for LBP irrigation is set to stop on Thursday. Subsequently, water will be released only for Thadapalli-Arakkankottai irrigation," he added.
The official further said, "There is also forecast for rain in the catchment areas on May 1 and 2. Also, the monsoon is likely to start in Kerala by the end of May and in Tamil Nadu by the beginning of June. A crisis is likely to arise only if the rains are delayed."
A senior TWAD Board official said, "For Erode district, the Bhavani and Cauvery are the major sources of drinking water. There is no shortage of drinking water so far. But we can't predict what May will be like."
In Tiruppur, water level at Amaravathi Dam is very low, standing at 203.68 mcft (21 feet) against the full level of 4047 mcft (90 feet). About 110 drinking water schemes rely on Amaravathi River.
"The water level in the dam is currently low. Consequently, there is no water release from the dam. However, we recently released water for drinking purposes. It has raised the groundwater level. That will help the water projects for up to a month. By then, the monsoon will start," a senior official of WRD of Tiruppur said.
