JOIN USIn a boost to Samba crop cultivation in Tamil Nadu’s delta region, the state government on Sunday opened the shutters of Mettur’s Stanley reservoir.
The active south-west monsoon has brought copious rains over the region and good inflow to the state’s reservoirs since the season began in June.
“Due to heavy rains in Karnataka, the inflow in Mettur dam has increased in the last few days. At present the water level is 96.91 feet and it is expected to cross 100 feet in a few days against its total capacity of 120 feet,” a senior official from PWD’s water resources organisation said on Friday.
He said the inflow at Biligundlu, the point where Cauvery enters Tamil Nadu from Karnataka, has been in the range of 19,000 cusecs and 23,000 cusecs during last week.
Insufficient water in the reservoir Prompted Tamil Nadu to defer opening of the dam on the scheduled date of June 12.
The government upped the shutters since the inflow levels improved and remained steady for the past couple of weeks.
“The south-west monsoon is expected to be normal the coming month and we expect Karnataka to release more water downstream. So, we released water today,” the official said. Most of the reservoirs located close to or in the Western Ghats, including Mullaperiyar, Vaigai, Sholayar and Aliyar, are recording a good inflow. There is a steady rise in water storage in Manimuthar dam built across the Tamirabarani river in Tirunelveli. Inflow to other dams in southern region including Vaigai, Papanasam, Sholayar and Parambikulam have increased in the last one week.