Inflow into Mettur dam decreases

SALEM: The 16-vent Ellis Saddle surplus water bridge in the Stanley Reservoir in Mettur was closed on Wednesday morning after inflow decreased. This bridge was opened on July 30 to facilitate the release of surplus water into the river Cauvery after the dam reached its maximum capacity of 120 feet.

The water resources department (WRD) had released surplus water downstream while maintaining the dam's water level at 120 feet, with the release rate peaking at 1.70 lakh cusecs. However, following the cessation of continuous rainfall in Karnataka, the inflow to the dam decreased.

Karnataka officials had been releasing water at a rate of 40,000 cusecs until Tuesday evening, but this was reduced to 10,000 cusecs on Wednesday.

When reading was taken at 8am on Wednesday, the water storage level remained steady at 120 feet (93.47 TMC FT), with an inflow measured at 10,000 cusecs, and the discharge rate also held constant. Additionally, officials were releasing 500 cusecs of water into the East and West bank canals of the dam to support irrigation needs in the Salem, Erode and Namakkal districts.