Chennai: With the southwest monsoon bringing copious rain to the catchment areas in Karnataka and Kerala, the inflow into dams in Tamilnadu has spiked.
So much so, the water level in 15 major dams of Tamilnadu, including Mettur, Bhavanisagar and Mullaiperiyar, has gone up phenomenally. The dams are being monitored by the officials 24 hours a day.
Mettur dam, which can hold 93 tmc ft of water, now has 44.61 tmc ft of water. Reports state that it will touch 100 ft of water level by tomorrow as it stands at 82.62 ft today with an inflow of 1.65 lakh cusecs. Outflow is 1,000 cusecs.
Bhavanisagar dam: Total capacity 32 tmc ft, present storage 21 tmc ft.
Amaravathi dam: Total capacity 4 tmc ft , present storage 2.6 tmc ft;
Periyar dam: Total capacity 10 tmc ft, present storage 4.3 tmc ft;
Papanasam dam: Total capacity 5.5 tmc ft, present storage 2.7 tmc ft
Manimutharu dam: Total capacity 5.5 tmc ft, present storage 0.9 tmc ft.
As there is continuous inflow into 13 dams, there are chances of the water level going up considerably, says a report quoting a Public Works Department official. Officials, including engineers, are working in shifts to monitor the dams and take appropriate action when they fill up.
There was no rise in the Krishnagiri and Sathanur dam level as there was no inflow into these two dams.