With the discharge from Mettur dam being stepped up since Saturday, the Public Works Department is all set to release surplus flow into the Kollidam river from Upper Anicut (Mukkombu) besides stepping up discharge of water for irrigation in the Cauvery.
Tiruchi Collector S. Sivarasu issued an alert on Saturday asking people living along the banks of the Kollidam and the Cauvery to move to safe locations.
He said that the Mettur dam had reached its maximum capacity.
The discharge, which stood at 32,500 cusecs on Saturday morning, had been stepped up in the evening. There were indications that the discharge might be stepped up further in the next few days. Hence, it had been decided to discharge 10,000 cusses into the Kollidam river. Hence people living along the rivers had been asked to move to safer locations.
According to PWD sources, while 24,000 cusecs of water was realised at Mukkombu, it was 37,000 cusecs at Mayanur regulator, further upstream, at 6 p.m. on Saturday. About 24,000 cusecs was discharged into the Cauvery river from the Mukkombu for delta irrigation.
Sources added that the realisation at Mukkombu was likely to reach 35,000 cusecs on Sunday morning. Once the realisation of water went beyond 40,000 cusecs at Mukkombu, the water would be released in Kollidam.
Going by the current trend of inflow into Mettur dam, a senior official of the Public Works Department said the discharge of surplus water would continue for a few more days. The discharge might be stepped up to 70,000 cusecs in a day. The surplus water would reach Mukkombu on Monday. There were chances for letting 20,000 to 25,000 cusecs in the Kollidam for a week from Monday.
Coffer dam
Officials were confident that the coffer dam built around the damaged portion of Kollidam regulator would withstand the force of the surplus flow and help in proper regulation of water for irrigation.
