The water discharged into the River Cauvery from Mettur dam increased to two lakh cusecs on Thursday.
Following heavy rain in catchment areas and water discharged from dams in Karnataka increased, the inflow into Mettur dam also began to increase from July 31. As Mettur dam is maintained at its capacity of 120 feet, the inflow into the dam is completely discharged into River Cauvery.
For the 20th consecutive day, the dam's water level stood at its capacity of 120 feet on Thursday. At 8 a.m., the inflow into the dam increased to 1.58 lakh cusecs from Wednesday's inflow of 1.41 lakh cusecs. The amount of water discharged into the River Cauvery also increased to 1.75 lakh cusecs. For canal irrigation, the water discharged through the East-West Bank canal is maintained at 500 cusecs.
At 9.30 a.m., the water discharged into the River Cauvery was increased to two lakh cusecs, including 1.77 lakh cusecs through 16-vent surplus sluices and 23,000 cusecs discharged through the dam and power house tunnel.
Water Resources Department officials, on Wednesday night, issued a flood alert to ten district collectors in the Delta region and advised people living in low-lying areas and near the river to relocate.
Salem District Collector S. Karmegam, in a release, said as two lakh cusecs of water is released from the dam, people should avoid taking baths in the River Cauvery and avoid taking selfies.
