Chennai: Though the June deadline for opening Mettur dam for irrigation purposes has been overshot, the dam is to be opened tomorrow (13 August, Tuesday) by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami.
According to reports quoting government sources, the water level in the dam has reached 85 ft and it has been decided to open its shutters for irrigation purposes from tomorrow.
The delta districts of Tamilnadu depend on Cauvery water for cultivation purpose. This time, the water will be used for samba cultivation.
CM FOR SALEM
Edappadi Palaniswami will leave Chennai tonight by flight to Coimbatore. He will reach Mettur tomorrow where the sluice gates will be opened.
Following torrential rains in Karnataka and Wayanad, the inflow into Kabini and Krishnarajasagar (KRS) dams across the Cauvery touched 2.9 lakh cusecs Sunday.
To manage the dam levels, the Government of Karnataka has been releasing water from these two dams into the Cauvery, which reaches the Mettur dam in Salem via Biligundlu.
SCRAMBLING FOR SAFETY
As on Monday morning, the inflow into Mettur dam crossed 1.6 lakh cusecs and is on the rise.
People living in Chathiram, Ottamalai, Indira Nagar, Natramkottai and Hogenakkal have reportedly moved to higher areas as the water flow in the Cauvery is increasing by the minute. The Dharmapuri district administration has also deployed police personnel along the river banks in Hogenakkal to prevent people from entering the river.
MORE RAIN
The Indian Meteorological Department has forecast heavy to very heavy rain in various places in Cauvery catchment areas for the next two days.
While Kabini dam gets its inflow from Wayanad in Kerala, KRS dam gets water from Kodagu in Karnataka. Heavy rainfall in both these districts in the last few days has contributed to a steep rise in inflows to these two dams, apart from causing widespread damage to the districts due to flooding and landslides.