The Stanley Reservoir at Mettur achieved its full reservoir level (FRL) of 120 ft a little after noon on Monday. This was the 39th time that the Mettur Dam achieved FRL in its 85-year-old history. The last time the dam became full was in the first week of August 2013. The realisation of water in River Cauvery at Mettur which stood at 68,489 cusecs at 8 a.m. on Monday, rose to 72,486 cusecs by noon. The water level was 119.41 ft (92.534 tmc ft against the dam’s full capacity of 93.47 tmc ft) on Monday morning and the FRL was achieved by a little after noon. The discharge from the dam was 30,000 cusecs (cubic feet per second) in the morning and it was stepped upto 40,000 cusecs by noon, according to Rohini R. Bhajibhakare, District Collector. While 17,500 cusecs was being discharged through the 16 eye sluices, another 22,500 cusecs was being released through the eight eye sluices. The official machinery, farmers and the general public celebrated the occasion, by conducting special poojas. R. Senthilkumar, Chief Engineer, Water Resource Department (WRD), Tiruchi region, S. Semmalai, MLA of Mettur, participated in the poojas along with a large number of farmers and local public thanking mother Cauvery for the bountiful inflow. Mr. Senthilkumar told presspersons that the PWD has taken all effective steps to ensure that the the released water used for filling the 690 and odd lakes and tanks under the delta system without going waste. He said that special teams of the PWD were patrolling the banks of River Cauvery in all the dozen districts under the Cauvery delta basin to monitor the flow and ensure safety of the people living in the low lying areas in the villages situated on the banks of the river. The quatum of discharge will be regulated based on the inflow into the dam, he said. Mr. Semmalai said that achievement of FRL immediately after the formation of the Cauvery Water Management Authority (CMA) and the Cauvery Water Regulatory Committee (CWRC) was a big victory for the farmers of the state. Meanwhile, Ms. Rohini has once again issued a warning to the people living in the low-lying areas on the banks of the river to move to places of safety along with their belongings and cattle, as more inflow is expected as day passes. The Collector said that the revenue and PWD officials continue to closely monitor the situation and have been creating awareness among the people to ensure their safety. A team of PWD officials are camping at the Mettur Dam site to monitor the flow. The Collector said that the disaster management control room was functioning round the clock at the collectorate and the people can contact the toll-free phone number 1077 during any emergency situation.<doc-sep>With the discharge from Mettur Dam into River Cauvery stepped up to 1.13 lakh cusecs on Sunday, over 50 houses in Bhavani and Kodumudi were flooded and residents were moved to safer locations. The situation remains critical in Palakarai in Bhavani where flood water entered many houses located along the banks of the river. While most of the residents were moved to safe locations along with their belongings, a few people refused to move. Revenue officials warned them that the situation could turn worse if the discharge was stepped up as there is a possibility that their houses would get submerged. Likewise, over 20 families in Karungalpalayam, Parisal Thurai, near Lakkapuram, and Kodumudi were also moved to safe locations and were accommodated at schools. The Vinayagar Statue at Parisal Thurai and the graveyard, both located along the river, got submerged in the early hours of Sunday. Revenue officials and the police personnel continue to warn the people against entering the river for bathing and washing of clothes. District Revenue Officer S. Kavitha told The Hindu that though the situation is critical at a few places in the district, no untoward incidents were reported as officials continue to monitor the water level and warn people.<doc-sep>As torrential rain strikes Kerala and Karnataka, the central water commission (CWC) has issued an alert to 11 districts in Tamil Nadu. The Stanley Reservoir at Mettur Dam received an inflow of 1.90 lakh cusecs on Wednesday night, the highest ever this year. Due to heavy rain in catchment areas of Kerala and Karnataka, the discharge of water is expected to be more than 2.1 lakh cusecs and the water is expected to reach Mettur Dam in two days. Many residential areas have been inundated all across southern districts in Tamil Nadu as several dams nearly reached their capacity levels. District authorities in low lying areas along the Cauvery have been instructed to take adequate measures to tackle the prevailing flood situation due to heavy discharge of water from the Mettur, Bhavani Sagar and Amravathi dams in Tamil Nadu. Over 300 people living in low lying areas of Salem, Erode and Nammakal districts have been evacuated and sent to relief camps. The release from CWC said the downstream area of Bhavani in Erode district will discharge a combined release in range of 2.5 to 2.6 lakh cusecs at Mettur and Bhavanisagar dams. Flood alert was in place for Salem, Erode, Namakkal, Karur, Trichy, Thanjavur, Thiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and Ariyalur districts. ALSO READ | Flood alert in 12 districts of Tamil Nadu as Mettur water level rises ALSO WATCH | Kerala floods: Rescue operations underway, people airlifted<doc-sep>Minor landslips continue on Pollachi-Valparai road, affecting traffic and supply of essential commodities With Cauvery in spate carrying 2.20 lakh cusecs, more houses located in high altitude areas from Bhavani to Kodumudi were flooded on Saturday in Erode. Houses in Bhavani, Karungalpalayam and Kodumudi were flooded and families were moved to safer locations. As many as 2,423 people belonging to 783 families have been accommodated in 16 relief camps that have been set up in Pallipalayam, Kumarapalayam and Jedarpalayam areas. Ministers P. Thangamani (Electricity) and V. Saroja (Social Welfare) and Ka. Balachandran, monitoring officer for Namakkal district, stayed put in Pallipalayam and Kumarapalayam — two villages that have been worst affected by the floods — for the third consecutive day on Saturday and monitored the relief operations. In Kodumudi, water from the Pugaluran Canal continued to flood houses even as more people were evacuated and moved to safer locations. A total of 7,832 people continue to be at the flood relief camps in the district. As the fury of rainfall reduced from Saturday morning, stagnant water from residential areas in Valparai started receding. Though more than 100 people from about 43 families continued to stay in the relief camps, many people could be seen cleaning their houses filled with mud and silt. As minor landslips continued at the ninth hairpin bend on the Pollachi-Valparai road, heavy vehicles were not allowed further. As a result, transport of essential items including vegetables, milk and fuel to Valparai and other areas in the hills remained disrupted. Major dams in Coimbatore and Pollachi — Sholayar, Parambikulam, Aliyar, Siruvani and Pilloor — have almost filled up and the excess water is being let into the rivers. Inflow at 1.80L cusecs With no let-up in the inflow, the discharge from the Stanley Reservoir at Mettur into Cauvery was stepped up to 2.05 lakh cusecs (cubic feet per second)at 7 p.m. on Saturday. The inflow was 1.72 lakh cusecs in the morning and it rose to 1.80 lakh cusecs in the evening. The discharge, which stood at 1.75 lakh cusecs in the morning, was stepped up to 1.95 lakh cusecs by 4 p.m. Meanwhile, the wedding hall converted into a temporary relief camp continued to be abuzz with activity with the administration providing food for the occupants of a few houses inundated in Nadarkottai and Nagercoil hamlets in Hogenakkal. (With inputs from P.V. Srividya in Dharmapuri, Syed Muthahar Saqaf in Salem, S.P. Saravanan in Erode and R. Arivanantham in Coimbatore)<doc-sep>
With the inflow crossing 1.06 lakh cubic feet per second on Monday evening, the water level at the Mettur dam was inching closer to the 100-ft mark, as against the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 120 ft. The realisation of Cauvery water at the Mettur dam, which stood at 45,316 cusecs on Sunday morning, rose to 1,06,595 cusecs by the evening. The water level stood at 90.60 ft as on Monday evening. The storage level was a little over 51 tmc (thousand million cubic feet), as against the dam’s full capacity of 93.47 tmc. “Going by the present rate of inflow, the storage level in the Mettur dam will touch the 100-ft mark soon,” sources in the Public Works Department (PWD) told The Hindu. This will be the first time in the last four years that the dam’s storage level has crossed the 100-ft mark. Previously, the Stanley Reservoir registered the 100-ft mark on August 8, 2014. Previously, the dam reached FRL on August 5, 2013, when the inflow was as high as 1.78 lakh cusecs. Prior to this, the dam had reached FRL on December 2, 2010. The entire official machinery has been kept on high alert, as the inflow into the Mettur dam continues to rise, following constant, heavy discharge of water from the Kabini and Krishnaraja Sagar reservoirs in neighbouring Karnataka. The district administration in Salem has already issued a flood warning to people residing in low-level areas in the villages situated along the banks of the Cauvery river downstream of Biligundlu — the entry point into Tamil Nadu — up to Mettur. The officials have directed the people and the fishermen of Adipalar, Settipatti, Pannavadi, Moolakkadu, Thinnapatti, Sinnamedu and other places situated near Mettur to move to higher ground. The inland fishermen have been warned against venturing into the sea. In Dharmapuri, Cauvery water coursed its way into Hogenakkal, with an inflow of 1,05,000 cusecs on Monday, resulting in the popular tourist destination being completely cordoned off from the public. The inflow, which was 85,000 cusecs on Monday morning, rose to 1,05,000 cusecs in the evening. In its wake, the five waterfalls of Hogenakkal could be seen gushing with water. As the water level rose, the pathway leading up to the view point in Hogenakkal became flooded. Steady rise With Karnataka releasing over one lakh cusecs from the Kabini and Krishnaraja Sagar reservoirs, thanks to heavy rain in the Cauvery catchment areas, the inflow into the Biligundlu reservoir in Krishnagiri has recorded a steady rise since Sunday. Coracle operations have remained suspended for the past 8 days, and are expected to resume only after a marked fall in inflow.