Even as no significant rain was reported in the catchment areas of Vaigai dam for the second day on Tuesday, the flood threat for five districts downstream the reservoir persisted with the water level still standing at the danger-mark of 69 feet (71 feet).
The dam was getting an inflow of 3,826 cusecs. The Public Works Department officials stepped up the discharge of water from the dam to 3,355 cusecs during the day from 2,390 cusecs recorded in the morning. While 1,995 cusecs was being drawn through the Periyar Main Canal and Tirumangalam Main Canal, 1,300 cusecs was being discharged into the river.
However, the flow of water in the river within the city limits receded by around a foot since not much rainfall was reported in the catchment areas downstream the Vaigai dam. The flow in the river, which was recorded as 5,250 cusecs in the morning, came down to 4,100 cusecs in the evening.
Consequently, city residents, who were prevented from using the inundated causeways in the city on Monday by the police, were allowed to use them to move across the river on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the discharge from Periyar dam, which was 175 cusecs in the morning, was increased to around 1,600 cusecs during the day.
PWD officials were hopeful of using the flood water in a beneficial way by filling up the irrigation tanks in Madurai, Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram districts. “The tanks in Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram districts can absorb huge quantity of water as they do not have much storage now. In the present situation, the water will not wastefully enter the sea,” a senior PWD engineer said.
Meanwhile, the level in the Periyar dam too was inching towards the permissible level of 136 feet. The level in the dam stood at 132.70 feet with an inflow of 4,383 cusecs. The combined Periyar credit stood at 7,018 mcft.
The level in the other dams in the Periyar-Vaigai basin too was close to the brims. Sattaiyar dam has been surplussing for the past few days. The level in other dams: Manjalar dam 55 feet (57 feet); Marudhanadi 62 feet (64 feet) and Sothuparai dam 121.36 (126 feet).
Rainfall
Periyar dam recorded 28 mm of rainfall, followed by Gudalur 14, Tekkadi 12.8, Uthamapalayam 11, Shanmuganadi 9, Sothuparai dam 6 and Peranai 2 mm.
