For the first time, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday opened the sluice gates of the Stanley Reservoir in Mettur for irrigation of crops in Cauvery Delta region.
Usually, the water from Mettur Dam is released on June 12 but it was deferred due to low storage level.
With rains pounding the Cauvery catchment areas in Karnataka, Mettur dam is slowly inching towards reaching its full capacity of 120 feet. On Tuesday, the water level in the dam reached 100 feet.
By Thursday evening, 20,000 cusecs of water was released from the dam. This is the first time a chief minister is opening the sluice gates of the 84-year-old dam, which is usually done by a junior-level officer of the PWD.
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