With sustained rainfall in the catchment areas of Vaigai dam, the level in the dam touched 68.5 feet at 4.45 p.m. on Saturday, leading to issuance of the second flood alert.
The inflow to the dam as on Saturday evening was 2,619 cusecs. A statement issued by the Theni district administration said that once the dam touches 69 feet, the final alert will be issued and the surplus water released from the dam.
While the height of the dam is 71 feet, water can be stored up to 69 feet. The first alert was issued on Monday when the dam touched 66 feet. Statements issued by Theni and Madurai district administrations warned the people residing in low-lying areas along the banks of the river to move to safer locations. PWD officials in Theni district said that the storage level at the Manjalar dam near Periyakulam was rising steadily and stood at 53 feet on Saturday.
With the maximum level at 57 ft, the government had announced to release water for irrigation from the dam for 143 days from October 24.
This will benefit ayacutdars holding 5,259 acres in both Dindigul and Theni districts. Under such circumstances, the steady rise in water level in the dam had forced the district administration to issue the second flood alert.
The inflow to the dam was 136 cusecs and the storage was 395.37 mcft. The officials have warned people in Devadanapatti, Ganguvarpatti, Batlagundu and Sivagnanapuram to keep away from the river banks.
Meanwhile, the water level in Periyar dam stood at 133.75 feet as on Saturday morning with an inflow of 1,953 cusecs and a discharge of 1,977 cusecs.
