The third and final flood warning has been issued for five southern districts after water level in Vaigai dam touched 69 feet (full reservoir level 71 ft) at 7 a.m. on Wednesday, November 8, 2023.
However, with the dam getting a dwindled inflow of 2,659 cusecs, the Water Resources Department officials have not begun discharge of water into the Vaigai river.
“As the inflow has come down since yesterday afternoon, we are trying to build the storage to the maximum possible level. However, if the inflow surges suddenly, water would be released through the river,” an official said.
People living along the banks of Vaigai in Theni, Dindigul, Madurai, Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram districts have been cautioned against getting closer to the river and to move away from the river.
An engineer said during North East monsoon, the officials can allow water to rise upto beyond 71 feet if the weather condition is not threatening.
WRO officials have planned for water release for irrigating 45,000 acres of ayacut in Double Crop Area between Peranai in Dindigul district and Kallandiri in Madurai district, on November 10.
“When water is released for irrigation, the pressure on the dam will be eased and the additional storage will come handy for irrigation,” he added.
Meanwhile, farmers of Single Crop Area in Melur have planned for an agitation on November 10 demanding to release water for their area too.
They claim that Single Crop Area of 1.05 lakh acres is eligible for water release after September 15 as the combined Periyar credit in Periyar and Vaigai reservoirs have crossed 6,000 mcft.
In the meantime, Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary, Vaiko, has appealed to the Tamil Nadu government to release water for Tirumangalam Main Canal and through 58 Village Canal scheme.
Stating that people of Usilampatti and Tirumangalam region were facing shortage of drinking water due to insufficient rainfall, he said release of water will help filling up irrigation tanks and ooranies.
This will benefit people and their cattle, he said.
Water level (At 6 a.m. on November 8):
Water level in Periyar dam stood at 127.55 feet (142 feet) with an inflow of 1,855 cusecs and a discharge of 105 cusecs. The level in the Vaigai dam was 68.96 feet (71 feet) with an inflow of 2,693 cusecs and a discharge of 69 cusecs.
Vaigai dam had recorded 30.4 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours. Except for Gudalur 11 and Shanmuganadi 14, other rain gauge stations upstream Vaigai reservoir have received meagre rainfall.
