Mettur dam full; flood warning issued to 11 districts

This is the first time in 2022 and 42nd time in its 88-year-old history that the dam has achieved the FRL

For the first time this year, the Stanley Reservoir in Mettur achieved its Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 120 feet on Saturday morning as the inflow continued to be high owing to release of excess water from dams in Karnataka.

With the dam reaching its FRL and the outflow being increased to 1.13 lakh cusecs gradually since Saturday morning, the Water Resources Department issued a flood warning to people living on the banks of River Cauvery and in low-lying areas in 11 districts, asking them to move to safety.

This is the first time in 2022 and 42nd time in its 88-year-old history, the Stanley Reservoir, the lifeline of lakhs of farmers in the Cauvery Delta region, has achieved the FRL. The water level reached 120 feet with the storage at 9.55 am on Saturday with the storage hitting 93.470 tmcft and the inflow reaching 1.15 lakh cusecs.

Water level at the Stanley Reservoir built by the British regime has been rapidly increasing since July 11 when Karnataka began releasing excess water from Kabini and Krishnaraja Sagar dams in Mysuru district. The water level has increased by over 20 feet in the past six days, while nearly 30 tmcft of water has been received in the said period alone.

“The water level at Mettur dam has achieved its FRL. The outflow will be increased gradually, and it will be anywhere between 50,000 cusecs to 1 lakh cusecs,” the advisory issued by the department said. The advisory asked people living on the banks of Cauvery and in low-lying areas to move to safety, while asking the district administrations to take necessary precautionary steps.

The advisory has been issued to district collectors in Salem, Erode, Namakkal, Karur, Ariyalur, Tiruchirappalli, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, and Cuddalore. As the news of Mettur Dam achieving its FRL spread like widespread, hundreds of curious onlookers thronged the dam site to witness water gushing out of the reservoir.

The huge inflow of water into Mettur dam is good news for farmers in the Cauvery Delta who have cultivated the kuruvai (short-term crop) for the third straight year in a row. This year, the dam was opened in May for the first time since independence – the designated date for opening is June 12.

While paddy was cultivated in a record 4.9 lakh acre in 2021, the early release of water will help farmers increase the cultivation to 5.22 lakh acres this year, the government says, adding that water from Mettur dam is the lifeline of farmers in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Mayiladuthurai, and parts of Pudukkottai, Tiruchirapalli, and Cuddalore.

Besides cultivating lakhs of land, water from lower Cauvery is also used for drinking water purposes in 18 districts. The water also benefits around 30 industries.

The Cauvery Delta, which was used to a three-crop formula – samba, kuruvai and thaladi – had come down to just one crop a year. Till about a decade ago, cultivation would take place in three seasons – Kuruvai (short-term crop) from June to September, Samba (long-term crop) from August to January and Thaladi from January to May – keeping farmers busy for the whole year.

While the first two seasons primarily cultivated paddy, farmers utilised the third season to cultivate pulses for centuries together with the progressive farming community.