Mettur dam’s present storage may last till August 10

Mettur dam's storage may last till Aug 10; inflow on Tues morn 142 cusecs; 3.6 tmc ft of Cauvery water realised b/w June 1-July 16; shortfall 21.7 tmc ft; TN may continue water release for irrigation in Aug if shortfall made good; Karnataka told CWRC its reservoirs not having enough water for release. CWRC to meet again on July 31 to review.

With the flow into the Mettur dam remaining meagre, the dam’s present storage may last till August 10 at the current rate of water release. 

On Tuesday morning, the storage was 36.145 thousand million cubic feet (tmc ft) and the level was 73.9 ft. Making allowance of 5 tmc ft each for dead storage and drinking water requirements, the quantum of water available for irrigation will be down to around 25 tmc ft. At present, a little less than one tmc ft a day is being discharged. The inflow on Tuesday morning was 142 cubic feet per second (cusecs). 

About 3.6 tmc ft of Cauvery water was realised between June 1 and July 16, according to the data available with the Central Water Commission, which does the recordings at Biligundulu. This was against the prescribed amount of 25.3 tmc ft for the elapsed period. The shortfall was 21.7 tmc ft.

It is evident that Tamil Nadu could continue the water release for irrigation in the second half of August only if certain amount of the shortfall — if not all — is made good.

The issue was raised at the meeting of the Cauvery Water Regulation Committee (CWRC) held on Friday last. But Karnataka told the committee that in view of a poor southwest monsoon, its reservoirs were not having enough water for release in accordance with the stipulations of the Supreme Court and the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal. Karnataka’s representative contended that all the water discharge being made by the State was essentially meant for drinking water requirements, a participant says. The CWRC will meet again on July 31 to review the situation.