Chennai: Due to the heavy and continuous inflow of water from Karnataka, the storage level at the Stanley Reservoir in Mettur is nearing its full capacity.
In response, the Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department has decided to increase the discharge from the dam to 20,000 cubic feet per second (cusecs) by noon on Monday.
On Sunday, authorities began releasing 12,000 cusecs from the dam to irrigate the standing kuruvai crops across thousands of hectares in the Cauvery Delta districts.
According to officials, the discharge rate was increased to 16,000 cusecs by 10 a.m. on Monday and will be further enhanced to 20,000 cusecs by 12 noon. They have confirmed that this increased discharge rate will be maintained continuously.
The storage in the dam has reached 116.360 feet following an inflow of 1.53 lakh cusecs. The full reservoir level at Mettur dam is 120 feet.
The increased discharge is aimed at managing the water levels in the reservoir while ensuring adequate water supply for agricultural needs in the delta regions.