With water discharge from Bhavanisagar reservoir into River Bhavani to be stepped up to over 20,000 cusecs, the Water Resources Department (WRD) has issued a second flood alert asking people living along the river and in low-lying areas to move to safe locations here on Friday.
Officials of the Water Resources Department (WRD) said that though the full reservoir level is 105 feet, as per flood regulation norms, the quantum of water that could be stored for August is 102 feet. “The water level reached 102 feet at 9 a.m. and initially 6,113 cusecs of surplus water was discharged and it was increased during the day”, an engineer said.
The inflow that was 7,359 cusecs at 10 a.m. increased gradually to 16,117 cusecs at 4 p.m. Since the construction of the dam in 1955, this was the 22nd time that the water level touched 102 feet and surplus water was being discharged.
At 5 p.m., the inflow was 18,124 cusecs while the discharge, both through spillway and river sluices, was 18,121 cusecs. The storage was 30.31 tmc ft against the capacity of 32.80 tmc ft. The water level continues to be maintained at 102 ft.
Due to the rain in catchment areas, Moyar river was flooded while the discharge from Pilloor reservoir at Mettupalayam was maintained at 15,450 cusecs.
The alert issued by the WRD said, “the entire inflow would be discharged into the river and people living on the banks of the river in Sathyamangalam, Gobichettipalayam, Anthiyur and Bhavani taluks were asked to move to safe locations”. They were also warned against taking their cattle into the river or entering for bathing and washing clothes.
The river that flows through these taluks, reaches Kodiveri anicut and Kalingarayan anicut at Bhavani and confluences with River Cauvery at Kooduthurai in Bhavani. The stretch of the river in Erode district is 91 km.
Revenue officials, who continue to monitor the situation, said so far no houses located near the river were flooded and added that the situation would turn worse only if the discharge was over 40,000 cusecs.
