Tamil Nadu - Thanjavur

Mettur dam to be opened today

THANJAVUR: Taking into consideration the need for samba and thaladi cultivations in the Cauvery delta districts of Thanjavur and Tiruvarur, Mettur dam which was closed on October 11 following heavy rains in the delta districts, will be opened again on Wednesday.

According to M. Moorthy, Superintending Engineer, PWD, Thanjavur circle, 10,000 cusecs of water will be released from Mettur dam from 6 p.m.on Wednesday.

The water will reach Grand Anaicut in three days and from there it will be released into Cauvery, Vennar and Grand Anaicut canal systems.

Meanwhile, water level at Mettur dam stood at 86.9 ft on Tuesday. The storage was 49.17 tmc ft. The inflow into the dam was 20,300 cusecs.

“With this inflow, the level l is expected to touch 90 ft and storage will come to 50 tmc ft in a couple of days. This water will be sufficient to supply for the entire samba and thaladi seasons", Mr. Moorthy said.

Rainfall during October in the delta districts was more than the normal.

Total rainfall till October 23 was 227.81 mms, which according to PWD engineers is 90 mms more than the normal rainfall during October. However in September the rainfall was deficient.

The plan is to raise samba on 1,05,000 hectares in Thanjavur district this year. Out of this 65,000 hectares have been covered so far. The target for thaladi is 30,000 hectares. Out of this 15,000 hectares have been covered so far.

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