Salem: Water release from the Mettur dam was increased to 45,000 cusecs following increased inflows into the dam on Friday in the wake of surplus discharge from Karnataka’s reservoirs.
With the copious rains in the catchment areas in Karnataka, excess water release from KRS and Kabini reservoirs crossed one lakh cusecs mark a month ago. The Mettur dam brimmed to capacity at its full reservoir level of 120 feet. Chief Minister had then released waters from Mettur for Cauvery delta irrigation.
The water level in the dam had decreased to 116.85 feet last Friday and water inflow was 16,969 cusecs, while outflow was kept at 28,300 cusecs. Official sources said that water discharge from Karnataka was being increased gradually since Wednesday and about 60,000 cusecs of water reached Mettur dam. On Thursday evening, a flood alert was issued for Salem and Namakkal districts in the areas along the Cauvery river.
According to officials, Karnataka released nearly 1.25 lakh cusecs of water from its reservoirs, which is expected to reach Mettur dam on Friday night. Since the water level in the reservoir would reach its full level of 120 feet for the second time in a month, PWD authorities increased the discharge from Mettur to 45,000 cusecs on Friday.
