Bengaluru: With continuous heavy rainfall in the Cauvery catchment areas causing flooding, Karnataka has released 50,000 cusecs of water from the Kabini and Krishnaraja Sagar (KRS) dams to Tamil Nadu.
The water release is expected to increase further as the rain persists, according to a report from Daily Thanthi.
Karnataka began releasing 22,000 cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water from these dams on Saturday due to the heavy downpour. On Wednesday, Tamil Nadu officials reported to DT Next that Karnataka discharged 45,000 cusecs of surplus water from the Kabini dam at 4 pm, while 651 cusecs were released from the KRS dam.
As a result of this release, the main Hogenakkal Waterfalls, located on the border between Dharmapuri district in Tamil Nadu and Chamrajnagar district in Karnataka, along with the Cini Waterfalls, experienced overflow. The water subsequently flowed towards the Mettur Dam.
The inflow of water into the Mettur Dam increased significantly, rising from 20,910 cusecs at 8 am on Wednesday to 21,520 cusecs by 4 pm the same day. The water level in the dam stood at 46.80 feet, compared to its full reservoir level of 120 feet, with a storage capacity of 15.856 tmcft.
Heavy showers have been recorded in Cauvery catchment areas, including Kodagu and Wayanad, leading to increased water flow into Karnataka’s KRS, Kabini, Gorur Hemavathi, and Harangi dams. Notably, the Kabini dam has reached its full capacity, and other dams are rapidly filling up.