Water level in Mettur dam up by 2 feet

SALEM: There is a significant rise in the inflow into the Mettur dam as reservoirs in Karnataka have been opened to let out excess water and also due to heavy rains in the dam’s catchment areas.The flow in the Cauvery is also heavy due to the rains.The level in the Mettur dam has gone up by two feet in a single day owing to the increased inflow. According to PWD sources, the inflow started increasing from Thursday and the dam was receiving 13,548 cusecs. On Friday the inflow was 20,540 feet. The level in the dam stood at 80.35 feet against its full capacity of 120 feet.As there was heavy rain in areas around Karanataka reservoirs, surplus water was being let into the Cauvery and the inflow into the Mettur dam continued to increase for the third day on Friday. Moderate to heavy rains occurred in Mettur dam’s upper catchments in Hogenekkal and lower catchments in Palar and Kolathur, According to the inflow reading at 4 pm on Saturday the Mettur dam received 50,656 cusecs and the level stood at 83.150 feet. Discharge to the Cauvery delta irrigation was maintained at 12,707 cuseces.No flood alert was given by the district administration or the PWD in Salem District, but Visarjan rituals and bathing have been restricted in Hogenekkal, said officials. Hogenakkal Flood AlertThe Public Works Department officials have appealed to residents of low-lying areas to move to safer places in Hogenekkal in Dharmapuri distriect on Friday.According to sources, due to heavy rain in catchment areas of reservoirs and forest regions of Karnataka, excess water was being released from Kabini, Krishnarajasagar, Herangi and Hampi dams into the Cauvery from Thursday. Owing to this the flow in the river has been increasing steadily. According to sources at the Central Water Commission’s Gauge Centre about 34,000 cusecs per second was flowing in the Cauvery at Hogenekkal on Saturday.Since the pathyway to the falls at Hogenekkal has submerged in water, tourists have been barred from taking bath. A flood alert has been sounded in Hogenkkal, Oottamalai area. A team of officials drawn from Revenue, PWD, Forest, Fire and Rescue Service and Police departments have been deployed to monitor the situation round-the-clock.