The chances of Tamil Nadu getting higher quantum of water from the Cauvery river brightened on Tuesday evening as the Biligundlu gauging site, the entry point of the Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu, saw the flow going up by over two times in less than 24 hours.
On Monday evening, the flow was 1,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs). By Tuesday afternoon, it went up to 2,600 cusecs. The flow is likely to be more in the coming days as authorities in the Karnataka government have begun increasing the quantum of water release from the Kabini dam, one of the four Karnataka reservoirs across the Cauvery.
On Tuesday evening, the release rose to 7,000 cusecs from 4,300 cusecs in the morning, according to an official here. The issue of water from the Krishnarajasagar, another important reservoir in Karnataka, was around 2,800 cusecs.
The higher flow of water was attributed to heavy rainfall being experienced in the Cauvery catchment areas located in Karnataka and Kerala.
As of now, the State experienced barely two thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) at Billigundlu, the reference point for measurement as indicated in the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal’s Final Order. For the month of June, the State should get 10 tmc ft.
On Tuesday morning, the Mettur dam, the most important storage point in Tamil Nadu, had a storage of around 2.9 tmc ft (capacity:93.47 tmc ft) with the water level standing at 15.51 ft (full level: 120 ft). The inflow to the dam was recorded as 80 cusecs.
