After 5 years, Mettur dam misses its customary date of water release for irrigation

The opening of the Mettur dam in Salem, for irrigation in the Cauvery delta missed its customary date of June 12 this year. This is the first time in five years the date has been missed.

The opening of the Mettur dam in Salem, for irrigation in the Cauvery delta missed its customary date of June 12 this year. This is the first time in five years the date has been missed.

Officials attributed poor storage at the dam: 13.97 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) against its full capacity of 93.47 tmc ft, as the reason the dam was not opened this year. The water level stands at 43.52 feet against its full capacity of 120 feet. Inflow to the dam was 404 cubic feet per second (cusecs) while the discharge was kept at 1,500 cusecs, which is essentially for drinking water requirements of Chennai that receives water from the Veeranam tank, which, in turn, is fed by the Cauvery water through the Vadavar channel, branching off from the Lower Anicut on the Coleroon. 

The last time the dam missed its opening date was was in 2019 . At that time, water release eventually began in the middle of August. 

Normally, the release from Mettur for irrigation takes care of 3.24 lakh acres during the short-term cultivation season kuruvai.  But, in the past five years, the coverage has hovered between 2.9 lakh acres during 2019-20 to 5.6 lakh acres. The enhanced coverage was mainly possible because of the opening of the dam on the customary date in 2020, 2021 and 2023.  In 2022 in fact, water release commenced on May 24. Free electricity supply for farming was another important factor in the improvement in coverage. 

Meanwhile, the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC)’s meeting, the first during the current water year of 2024-25, has been postponed to June 14 from June 13, in view of the preoccupation of officials of the Tamil Nadu and Kerala governments and both members of the CWRC, with the ongoing visit of a panel of experts to the Mullaperiyar dam.  Tamil Nadu is likely to insist at the CWRC’s meeting that the month’s quota of 9.19 tmc ft be released by Karnataka. 

During June 1-10, the State received 1.18 tmc ft against the quantity of 3 tmc ft for the period in question. The immediate previous year, 2023-24, was one of the extremely poor realisation years for Tamil Nadu, as the State realised about 81.4 tmc ft against the normal share of 177.25 tmc ft.