The recent rain in the catchment areas in Salem and Dharmapuri districts and Madheswaran Hills increased the inflow into the Stanley Reservoir at Mettur from 2,931 cusecs on Monday to 5,268 cusecs on Tuesday.
Public Works Department officials said that the water level increased from 67.64 feet on Monday to 68.11 on Tuesday morning against the full reservoir level of 120 feet. The storage was 31.10 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) against its full capacity of 93.47 tmcft.
At present, 500 cusecs of water is being discharged for drinking water purpose. Officials said the inflow is expected to continue for another few days .
The dam is usually opened for kuruvai cultivation on June 12. However, with the current level of inflow and storage, the dam is unlikely to be opened on the above date.
PWD officials said the southwest monsoon is likely to begin in the first week of June and increase the inflow gradually. “Only copious inflow can increase the reservoir level so that the dam can be opened for irrigation in July,” officials said.
