In what could bring cheer to the farmers of the delta region, that look up to the water level in Stanley reservoir in Mettur, the inflow into Bilingundlu reached 15,000 cusecs and is likely to be double by Saturday evening. As of Friday evening, the inflow from Kabini and Krishnanaraja Sagar reservoir into Biligundlu reached 9,000 cusecs and 6,000 cusecs respectively. According to Dharmapuri Collector K. Vivekanandan, communication received from Kabini and KRS dams has indicated that by Saturday evening the inflow would be 30,000 cusecs.
However, putting to rest speculations of a shutdown of Hogenakkal falls, Mr.Vivekanandan said there is a fixed protocol for 50,000 cusecs onwards. However, since it’s the weekend and tourists are likely to arrive, safety precautions have been taken in the falls, he added.
Public Works Department officials in Salem told The Hindu that the initial inflow into Stanley Reservoir at Mettur at 11 a.m was 10,376 cusecs and it gradually increased to 14,000 cusecs at 4 p.m. The water level stood at 74.93 feet against its full reservoir level of 120 feet while the storage was 37.089 tmcft against the dam’s capacity of 93.470 tmcft. About 1,003 cusecs of water was discharged for drinking water purpose.
Officials said the river course distance from KRS and Kabini dams to the Stanley reservoir was 182 km and 241 km respectively. “It will take 48 hours and 60 hours respectively for the water from these dams to reach Mettur initially due to dry river bed,” an official said. Officials said the discharge from Karnataka dams was being stepped up gradually leading to the increase in inflow. All maintenance works in sluices and storage areas have been carried out to face any situation for the current monsoon season, they added.
