Water released from Mettur Dam as inflow and storage level increase
Minister K.N. Nehru during the opening of water from Mettur Dam in Salem on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: PTI
Minister for Municipal Administration K.N. Nehru opened the shutters of the Mettur Dam here on Sunday. This follows a direction from Chief Minister M.K. Stalin to release water from the dam in view of the increase in inflow and storage.
Inflow to the dam increased to 1.51 lakh cusecs, and the water in the dam is expected to reach the full reservoir level of 120 feet in one or two days. The inflow had increased to 1.34 lakh cusecs at 8 a.m. on Sunday from 1.23 lakh cusecs as of Saturday. By noon, it rose to 1.47 lakh cusecs and at 4 p.m., it stood at 1.51 lakh cusecs. The dam’s water level stood at 110.76 feet, and the storage, 79.49 TMC, as against the full capacity of 93.47 TMC. In the last 24 hours till Sunday 4 p.m., the dam’s water and storage levels rose by nine feet and 12 TMC respectively.
Mr. Nehru opened the shutters of the dam at 3 p.m. Initially, 5,000 cusecs of water was discharged into the Cauvery River, and it would be stepped up.
Mr. Stalin had taken various steps to get Tamil Nadu’s share of water from Karnataka. The Cauvery Water Management Authority, too, directed Karnataka to release 45 TMC of water to Tamil Nadu, but Karnataka did not do so. However, thanks to the nature, inflow into Mettur has crossed 1.50 lakh cusecs now and the water level has touched 110 feet, the Minister told mediapersons later. “The water discharged now from the dam is not for samba crop. It is to fill the lakes in the delta region,” he added.
Salem Collector R. Brindha Devi; MP T.M. Selvaganapathi; and MLAs R. Rajendran and S. Sathasivam were present when the water was released.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Stalin had chaired a meeting with engineers of the Water Resources Department, and Minister Duraimurugan, and ordered that water be discharged from the dam. Meanwhile, AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K. Palaniswami urged the State government to ensure adequate stock of paddy seeds, fertilizers and other inputs, and bank loans for samba cultivation. He also urged the government to release water from the dam for samba cultivation.
He accused the DMK government of being “hand in glove” with the Congress government in Karnataka and the Central government in the Cauvery issue. The farmers have been severely affected as the DMK government did not obtain water from Karnataka for samba cultivation.
The DMK has been “betraying” the farmers in the Cauvery delta region, who have been facing immense hardships for want of water, he added.
He further urged the DMK government to grant crop loans without imposing any condition.
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