The sluices of Stanley Reservoir in Mettur were opened for commencing farm activities in the delta districts on Tuesday.
Five State Ministers — Edappadi K. Palaniswami, P. Thangamani, V. Saroja, K.C. Karppannan and M. R. Vijayabhaskar participated in the function and opened the sluices.
Though it is customary to release water on June 12 every year, the same was postponed this year due to poor storage.
The State government decided to release water only after the Karnataka government let out water from Krishnarajasagar and Kabini reservoirs on September 6 on the direction of Supreme Court.
This is the 83rd year that water is being released from Mettur Dam since it was constructed in 1934.
Mr. Palaniswami told media after opening the Mettur Dam, that initially 2,000 cusecs had been released from the Dam, and it would be stepped up to 12,000 cusecs by 6 p.m.
The water level in the Dam stood at 87.68 feet on Tuesday, against its full level of 120 feet. The storage level was 50.39 TMC against its full capacity of 93.47 TMC. The inflow was 10,092 cusecs.
