Second flood warning for five southern districts has been issued after water level in Vaigai dam touched 68.50 ft. (maximum permissible level 71 ft.) at 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
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The dam has been getting an inflow of 2,796 cusecs. With only 69 cusecs of water being discharged for drinking water requirements of Madurai city and Theni district, a Water Resources Organisation (WRO) engineer said they expect the level to reach 69 feet by Wednesday morning. “The entire inflow will be discharged into the river as and when the level touches 69 feet after issuing the third and final flood warning,” he added.
WRO proposes to release water from the dam on November 10 for the double crop area of over 45,000 acres in Madurai and Dindigul districts alone. Water for the first crop of double crop area for the rest could not be released due to poor storage in both Periyar and Vaigai reservoirs. The combined Periyar credit did not touch 4,000 mcft, the minimum storage required for water release for entire double crop area.
Meanwhile, farmers of single crop area in Madurai and Sivaganga districts are up in arms against the decision of WRO officials in not releasing water to over 1.05 lakh acres beyond Kallandiri in Madurai district. They have threatened to go on protest on November 10.
Their claim is that combined Periyar credit has crossed 6,000 mcft, the minimum requirement for water release for the Single Crop Area.