Mettur dam filling up fast due to water released from Karnataka

Excess water released from reservoirs in Karnataka due to heavy rains in the catchment areas of River Cauvery reached Biligundlu, the entry point of the river in Tamil Nadu, on Tuesday.

The inflow in Biligundlu increased to 80,000 cusecs at 4 pm in the evening.

At 8 pm on Tuesday, the inflow at the Mettur dam 71,000 cusecs and the outflow was 700 cusecs while the water level stood at 93.430 feet as against the total capacity of 120 feet. The water storage stood at 56.659 tmcft.

Karnataka had released excess water from Krishna Raja Sagar and Kabini reservoirs in August due to heavy rains in catchment areas of River Cauvery. As rains hit the region again, both the dams have attained Full Reservoir Level (FRL) and excess water is being released.

Fast filling up of Mettur dam would mean uninterrupted water to farmers in the Cauvery Delta region for irrigation. The sluices of the Stanley Reservoir were opened for the first time as scheduled in the month of June after 2011 as the dam had enough water. From 2012 to 2019, the dam was not opened in June due to less storage.