When the sluices of the Stanley Reservoir in Mettur will be opened for commencing the farming activities in the 11 Cauvery delta districts on Tuesday (September 20), it will be done for the 83th time ever since the dam was constructed way back in 1934.
The water level in the Mettur Dam stood at 87.01 feet on Monday against its full level of 120 feet. The storage level was 49.295 tmcs against its full capacity of 93.47 tmc.
The dam realised 10,857 cusecs on Sunday and it dropped to 10,023 cusecs. About 1,250 cusecs of water is being discharged from the dam for meeting the drinking water needs of delta districts.
The dam had registered inflow of more than 15,000 cusecs for five days from September 10 – 14, following the release of water from Krishnaraja Sagar and Kabini reservoirs in Karnataka on the direction of Supreme Court. However, the release dropped in the subsequent days.
The Chief Minister Jayalalithaa ordered the release of water a few days ago, based on the likelihood of the dam receiving more water from the Karnataka reservoirs in view of the Supreme Court direction, the Cauvery Supervisory Committee’s expected decision on quantum of water for Tamil Nadu and an anticipated normal north east monsoon.
The customary water released period is from June 12 to January 28 next year for a period of 230 days.
Inflow into Hogenakkal
The inflow in Cauvery into Hogenakkal was 13,000 cusecs on
Monday. Early in the day, with another 24 hours to go for the final day
of the Supreme Court-ordered water release, the water flow remained
encouraging with 13,000 cusecs.
