Mettur Dam fast filing up, water for crops soon

With catchment areas of the Cauvery river in Karnataka receiving heavy rainfall and water being released from major dams, Stanley Reservoir in Mettur in Tamil Nadu is fast filling up and its storage capacity touched 90 feet on Monday.

As huge quantities of water was being released from Kabini, Krishnarajasagar and other reservoirs in Karnataka, the famous Hogenakkal falls in Tamil Nadu overflowed for the seventh consecutive day on Monday.

With Stanely Reservoir fast filing up, the Tamil Nadu government has decided to open the gates of Mettur Dam on July 19 for 'kuruvai' (short-term) paddy cultivation in the Cauvery delta region. Usually, water from Mettur dam is released on June 12, but it was not the case for the past seven years due to various reasons.

The storage level in the dam has touched almost 90 feet. The full storage level (FSL) of the reservoir is 120 feet. In a statement here on Monday, Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said sluices of Stanley Reservoir at Mettur will be opened on July 19 to facilitate Kuruvai crops in the delta region.

“The decision was taken based on the current storage level, reports from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) that the south west monsoon would intensify in the Cauvery catchment areas and in anticipation of water being released from dams in Karnataka in the coming months,” Palaniswami said.

As of today, the storage level stood at 89.18 ft, he said, adding the inflow was 99,372 cusecs (water equal to one cubic foot per second.)

While expressing inability to release water from the Mettur dam as scheduled in June, Palaniswami had announced a Rs 115 crore package to help farmers take up cultivation using available water resources.