Water released from Mettur reaches Mukkombu

Water released in the Cauvery from the Stanley Reservoir in Mettur reached the Upper Anicut (Mukkombu) on the outskirts of Tiruchi on Tuesday

Water released in the Cauvery from the Stanley Reservoir in Mettur reached the Upper Anicut (Mukkombu) on the outskirts of Tiruchi on Tuesday.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin had ordered the opening of the reservoir on July 28, following heavy inflows. The Mettur Dam could not be opened on the usual date of June 12 this year owing to poor storage. However, the situation had changed in the past couple of weeks, thanks to heavy and widespread rains in Karnataka and Kerala.

Over the past couple of days, about 20,000 cusecs of water was released from the dam and the water flowed past the Upper Anicut on the outskirts of the city on Tuesday evening. The water is expected to reach Kallanai (Grand Anicut), from where it would be distributed for irrigation on Wednesday.

According to sources in the Water Resources Department, about 1,900 cusecs of water was realised at Mukkombu by 6 p.m. on Tuesday and the realisation is expected to increase gradually to 23,000 cusecs later tonight. The entire quantum will be released into the Cauvery as of now.

The realisation is expected to go up sharply over the next dew days as the Mettur dam reached its full capacity of 120 feet on Tuesday evening and the entire surplus flow would have to be discharged into the Cauvery.

Although farmers dependent on the river in the delta could not raise the kuruvai crop, the water flow is expected to spur farmers to begin samba paddy cultivation in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Cuddalore, Tiruchi, Pudukottai, and Ariyalur districts, besides Karaikal in neighbouring Puducherry.

However, as it would take a couple of weeks for the samba cultivation to get under way in full swing in the delta, farmers associations have been urging the Water Resources Department to utilise the nature’s bounty to fill up irrigation tanks and recharge the groundwater.