Mettur dam reaches capacity for third time in two months

FRL at Stanley reservoir was previously hit on Sept. 7 and 24

On Wednesday, the discharge into the Cauvery was stepped up to 27,000 cusecs. Officials said the discharge will be increased depending on inflows. E. LakshmiNarayanan

The water level at the Stanley reservoir reached capacity at 6.15 a.m. on Wednesday, touching 120 ft. This is the third time in two months that the Mettur dam has attained the full reservoir level (FRL).

Officials of the Public Works Department (PWD) said the dam previously reached FRL on September 7 and 24.

On Wednesday, the inflow was around 27,000 cusecs and the discharge into the Cauvery was stepped up from 500 cusecs to 27,000 cusecs.

While 22,500 cusecs is being discharged through the dam power house and the tunnel power house, which helps generate 240 MW of electricity, 4,500 cusecs is being discharged through the 16-vent surplus weir sluices.

Flood alert

Officials said the discharge will be stepped up based on the increase in inflow. Meanwhile, a flood alert has been issued to people living on the banks of the Cauvery and in low-lying areas in Salem, Erode, Namakkal, Karur, Perambalur, Ariyalur, Tiruchi, Pudukottai, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam and Cuddalore districts.

A circular sent out by the Office of the Assistant Executive Engineer, Public Works Department, Water Resources Department, Stanley Dam Sub Division, Mettur Dam, has asked the Collectors of 12 districts to tell people to move to safer places as the discharge could increase based on a rise in inflows.