With heavy rains continuing in the Cauvery’s catchments in Karnataka, the flow into the Stanley reservoir at Mettur has crossed the 60 feet mark, raising farmers’ hopes for water release for cultivation in the delta areas.
Officials said here on Wednesday that the inflow increased from 15,545 cubic feet per second (cusecs) on Tuesday to 28,417 cusecs at 8 a.m. Wednesday. This pushed up the level to 60.89 feet, against the Full Reservoir Level of 120 feet.
The storage improved from 22.982 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) to 25.354 tmcft, against the full capacity of 93.470 tmcft. The discharge was 801 cusecs.
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Officials said the water level increased by three feet in a day and kept rising throughout the day. If the current quantum of inflow continued for the next 10 days, PWD officials said, the level could reach 100 feet, brightening the prospects of water release for irrigation.
At Biligundlu, where the Cauvery enters Tamil Nadu, the flow in the river was 35,000 cusecs on Wednesday morning, but dropped to 28,000 cusecs in the evening, though excess flows continued to be released from the Kabini and KRS dams in Karnataka, a Revenue Department official said.
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At the Hogenakkal Falls, the ban on bathing and coracle operations continued for the sixth day.