Water level was rising steadily in Vaigai dam here on Tuesday bringing cheers to farmers in southern districts and relief to officials in Madurai and nearby areas, thanks to the heavy discharge from Periyar dam and moderate showers in Vaigai dam catchments.
However, the storage level slumped to 124.2 feet from 124.3 feet in Periyar dam as the quantum of discharge was more than the inflow in the morning. Even as the inflow into Periyar dam scaled down to 1,101 cusecs from 1,511 cusecs (on Monday), the Public Works Department engineers have been maintaining the discharge at 1,311 cusecs with the sole aim of improving storage in Vaigai dam to meet irrigation needs of farmers under its authorised ayacut and the drinking water needs of Madurai city, and Dindigul and Theni districts till next summer.
The level in Vaigai dam touched 46.52 feet. The inflow into the dam was 937 cusecs and the discharge 40 cusecs. Farmers in southern districts were happy as the steady increase in storage brightened the chances of releasing water for irrigation of 2.05 lakh acres of land under its ayacut in Dindigul, Madurai and Theni districts. The storage was 1,568 mcft.
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The rainfall was: Periyar – 3.6, Thekkadi – 2.8, Dindigul – 45.2, Kodaikanal – 53.1, Natham – 21, Vedasandur – 3.8, Vedasandur tobacco research station – 7, Chatrapatti – 0.2, Kodaikanal Boat Club – 56.5 and Kamatchipuram – 27.