With the inflow crossing one lakh cusecs (cubic feet per
second) on Saturday evening, water level in the Mettur dam was inching closer
to the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 120 feet.
By Saturday midnight or early hours of Sunday, the FRL would
be attained, going by the present inflow rate. The previous time the dam
reached FRL was on December 2, 2010.
On Saturday, the level stood at more than 115 ft and the storage level was more than 83 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft), against the full capacity of 93 tmc ft.
Also, 170 MW of power generation began on Saturday, against its installed capacity of 250 MW. Officials told The Hindu that the generation would be increased if the quantum of discharge went up in the coming days. From the initial discharge of 12,000 cusecs on Friday, it rose to 18,000 cusecs on Saturday. Official said it would increase to 25,000 cusecs by midnight.
Public Works Department officials pointed out that the inflow was only 40,815 cusecs when water was released on Friday for samba cultivation. But, it kept increasing since then. People living along the Cauvery were asked to move to safer places.
A senior official in Chennai said “as and when the water level reaches 120 ft, the entire inflow will be let out. It is expected that by 11 a.m. on Sunday, the quantum of discharge will be about one lakh cusecs.” The official added that Collectors of Salem, Erode, Tiruchi, Karur,Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam, all lying on the Cauvery river, had been sounded about the emerging situation, apart from Cuddalore.
On Saturday, the level stood at more than 115 ft and the storage level was more than 83 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft), against the full capacity of 93 tmc ft.
Also, 170 MW of power generation began on Saturday, against its installed capacity of 250 MW. Officials told The Hindu that the generation would be increased if the quantum of discharge went up in the coming days. From the initial discharge of 12,000 cusecs on Friday, it rose to 18,000 cusecs on Saturday. Official said it would increase to 25,000 cusecs by midnight.
Public Works Department officials pointed out that the inflow was only 40,815 cusecs when water was released on Friday for samba cultivation. But, it kept increasing since then. People living along the Cauvery were asked to move to safer places.
A senior official in Chennai said “as and when the water level reaches 120 ft, the entire inflow will be let out. It is expected that by 11 a.m. on Sunday, the quantum of discharge will be about one lakh cusecs.” The official added that Collectors of Salem, Erode, Tiruchi, Karur,Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam, all lying on the Cauvery river, had been sounded about the emerging situation, apart from Cuddalore.
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