Mettur dam opens today for irrigation

Chennai, July 18 (UNI) The sluice gates of the Mettur Dam will be opened today for irrigation, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi announced.

Mr Karunanidhi, who had on July 11 announced the opening of the dam on July 25, said the dam would be opened at 1800 hrs this evening as it had been receiving copious inflow.

The Chief Minister, who reviewed the situation yesterday, said the government had decided to advance as the inflow increased from 41,000 cusecs in morning to 51,000 cusecs by noon due to heavy rains in the catchment areas of Karnataka.

In a statement here, he said the storage level in the dam stood at 103.60 ft (full capacity 120 ft) yesterday morning and there was a possibility of inflow increasing further.

It may be recalled that the dam could not be opened on the customary date of June 12 for cultivation of Kuruvai crops due to poor storage level.

UNI