Heavy rains in Karnataka and Kerala fill up dams in TN

The Stanley Reservoir in Tamil Nadu was filling up fast as over 1 lakh cusecs of water was being discharged from Krishna Raja Sagar and Kabini reservoirs in Karnataka due to heavy rains in catchment areas of River Cauvery.

Since a huge amount of water is being released from the reservoirs in Cauvery, the Tamil Nadu government has asked people living on the banks of the river, which begins its journey from Talakaveri in Karnataka and merges into the ocean near Poompuhar, to be alert.

The inflow of water in Biligundlu, the entry point of River Cauvery in Tamil Nadu, stood at over 51,000 cusecs at 8 pm on Saturday. The water level at the Stanley Reservoir, the lifeline of lakhs of farmers in Cauvery Delta region, in Mettur stood at 72.520 feet as against the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 120 feet.

At 8 pm on Saturday, inflow at the Mettur dam was 51,000 cusecs, while the outflow was 1,000 cusecs and the water storage stood at 34.904 tmcft. The water level at the 86-year-old dam is expected to rise in the coming days due to huge discharge from the KRS and Kabini reservoirs.

The Mettur dam had attained FRL more than once in the past two years due to heavy rains in the catchment areas. Water released from the dam is the only source for lakhs of farmers in the Delta region who cultivate paddy and other crops.

Besides, Bhavanisagar and Amaravathi reservoirs in Western Tamil Nadu are also brimming with water as rain pound catchment areas of the rivers in neighbouring Kerala. Even as reservoirs are getting filled up fast, people in Coimbatore and Nilgiris districts have been put to severe inconvenience due to heavy rains in several parts of the region.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast extremely heavy rains in isolated places over Nilgiris district and heavy to heavy rains in Coimbatore and Theni districts of Tamil Nadu. As heavy rains rocked Kerala, the Theni district administration has asked people living on the banks of River Periyar to be on high alert.