Mettur dam touched full capacity Flood warning issued

Mettur dam reaches its full capacity level; flooding warning issued in 11 districts
Mettur: With the excess discharge of water from the dams in Karnataka due to the continuous rainfall in its catchment areas, the water level at the Mettur dam has touched its full capacity of 120 feet on Saturday.
 

Due to incessant rainfall, the inflow of water to Krishnarajasagar dam in Karnataka has increased to 85,000 cusecs and as a result, the outflow of the dam was increased to 84,923 cusecs. Similarly, the outflow of Kabini dam was increased to 32,900 cusecs after the dam’s inflow had increased to 34,176 cusecs.  
 

Considering the safety of the dams, the Karnataka government has started discharging about 1,17,823 cusecs of water from the dams into the river Cauvery since Saturday morning and the river has been flooded. 
 

The water reaches Tamil Nadu’s Hogenakkal. As on Friday, Hogenakkal has been receiving about 1,20,000 cusecs of water and the quantity of water reaching the state depends upon the intensity of rainfall in the neighbouring state. 
 

The state government has issued a flood warning in Hogenakkal and removed those residing along the banks of the river as water had flooded the houses. The pathway leading to mainfalls is submerged in three-feet of water. 

Due to the constant rise in the flow of water, the state government had prohibited people from entering the water for the seventh consecutive day. The union government has been constantly monitoring the water level at the river. 
 

As the water from Hogenakkal reaches the Mettur dam, the inflow of the water to the dam has increased to 1,17,349 cusecs from 82,642 cusecs on Friday. The inflow, on Saturday, has further increased to 1,18,671 cusecs. 
As a result, the water level at the dam has touched 119 feet early in the morning and due to the continuous inflow of water, the water level has touched its full capacity later that day.  The water level has increased by six feet in a single day. 

The dam has touched its full capacity for the 41st time in the last 88 years ever since it was constructed. It was in 2019, it touched its full capacity last. 
 

As the authorities have decided to discharge the equal quantity of water that is flowing into the dam, into the river, the state government has issued flood warnings in 11 districts - Salem, Namakkal, Erode, Karur, Ariyalur, Trichy, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam and Cuddalore. 

Further, the state government has advised people residing in the low-lying areas to vacate their houses immeidately.