The water level in the 78-year-old Mettur Dam crossed the 100 feet mark for the 61st year on Sunday. The regular measurement of water in the dam was 99.2 feet at 8 a.m. in the morning but in the next three hours it touched 100 feet – around 11 a.m.
Officials at the dam site said that on Saturday morning water level in the dam stood at 96.38 feet while the inflow was 25,618 Cubic Feet (CFT) per second to take the total capacity in that dam to 60,250 TMC. They noted that the inflow increased to 42,390 CFT per second on Sunday morning to take the level of water to 99.2 feet.
The quantity of water in the dam at that time was 63,809 TMC – nearly 3,500 TMC more per second than the previous day – while the outflow was 1,001 CFT per second.
At 4 p.m. on Sunday the water level was 100.05 feet against the dam's total height of 120 feet, while the total quantity of water was 64,905 TMC with an inflow of 38,372 CFT and outflow of 1,122 CFT.
Dam officials said that last year the level of water in Mettur Dam reached 100 feet during the last week of November and it reached its full capacity of 120 feet on the second of December. This year it has reached 100 feet in the first week of the month itself, they said, and expressed confidence that it could reach the full capacity in the next few days, provided the rain continues.
According to them, sources from the Cauvery upstream catchment areas in Karnataka informed them that the heavy rains there could continue for a couple of days and result in increased inflow to the River and Mettur Dam.
