As the water discharge from Stanley Reservoir in Mettur into River Cauvery increased to 85,000 cusecs on Tuesday evening and could be stepped upto one lakh cusecs, the district administration has cautioned people living along the banks of the river and in low-lying areas to remain alert.
Officials of the Water Resources Department said that due to rain in catchment areas, the inflow increased from 50,000 cusecs in the morning to 85,000 cusecs at 5 p.m. Since the discharge into River Cauvery could be increased further based on the inflow, people living in the close vicinity of the river should avoid entering the river.
Revenue department officials said people living near the banks at Nerinjipettai, Bhavani, Karungalpalayam and Kodumudi were alerted against the possible increase in discharge in the river. They said that only if the discharge is over one lakh cusecs, houses located along the river at Bhavani and Kodumudi would be flooded after which people would be moved to relief camps. “We are monitoring the flow of water round-the-clock”, an official added.
Meanwhile, the water level in Bhavanisagar Reservoir stood at 101.18 feet at 5 p.m. against the full reservoir level of 105 feet. The inflow stood at 1,416 cusecs while the discharge at 1,105 cusecs. The storage was 29.65 tmc ft against the capacity of 32.80 tmc ft.
On Monday evening, officials issued an advance flood warning that the dam is likely to reach 102 feet within a day or two after which the surplus flood water would be released into River Bhavani. They said as per flood regulation norms, water could be stored upto 102 feet in August and asked people living along River Bhavani to be on alert.
