As the level of water in Vaigai dam continues to dwindle, summer showers in the catchment areas have brought in renewed hope among people who are bracing themselves for a dry summer.
While these showers have kept the inflow into Periyar dam at 100 cusecs over the last week, officials from the Public Works Department (PWD) (Water Resources) in Madurai said if the showers continued, there could be some inflow into Vaigai dam as well. “Even on Thursday morning, we recorded an inflow of 32 cusecs at Palani Chettipatti gauging station. Since the areas beyond the station aren’t having much rain, the water dries up in the heat and doesn’t flow into Vaigai dam,” an official said.
From March 2, areas around Periyar dam, Sothuparai, Manjalaru dam and Sathayaru dam received intermittent showers. Periyar dam alone received nearly 30 mm of rainfall in the last five days and Sothuparai received the maximum rainfall in the region with 96 mm, recording 84 mm on Wednesday alone.
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Manjalaru dam also recorded 26 mm of rainfall while areas that include Peranai, Sathayaru dam and Marudhanadhi received more than 10 mm. While weather reports predicted that rain in the catchment areas would continue, the city is yet to receive its share of summer showers.
“To facilitate inflow into the vaigai dam, there needs to be more rain in the areas near the course of river from the Periyar dam. If there are showers near Vaigai dam and areas such as Veerapandi and Gudalur, we can expect some respite,” an official said.