Kalpetta: With heavy rains lashing Wayanad, major dams in the Cauvery basin are witnessing a heavy inflow of water and have started releasing water to ensure the safety of the dams. For the last few days, the water level of River Kabani, a major tributary of River Cauvery, has been flowing to the brim and the Kabini Reservoir at Beechanahalli has started releasing water from July 10 onwards as the water level crossed the allowed levels.
It is to be recalled that till recently the Tamil Nadu government was demanding an increased water discharge from the dams in the Cauvery river basin in Karnataka to Tamil Nadu to meet the needs of farmers. The Tamil Nadu government cautioned the district collectors in the Cauvery basin on the excessive water discharge from the dams and also directed them to alert the farmers. According to reports from Tamil Nadu, the water level of Mettur dam in River Cauvery is rising up as the inflow to the dam increased.
Going by the communiqué of the Wayanad District Collector D R Meghasree, the water level at the Kabini Dam at 8 am on Thursday was 2281.76 ft and the maximum level was 2284.00 ft. The maximum capacity of the dam is 10.52 TMC (Thousand Million Cubic feet) whereas the present storage at 8 am was 18.09 TMC. On the corresponding day last year, it was merely 11.94 TMC. As the water flow to the dam increased to 42829 Cusecs (cubic feet per second), the outflow from the dam also has been increased through discharge to 46783 Cusecs. '' Last year in the same period the water storage of the dam was only at 2270 ft,'' it was pointed out.
According to the District Collector, there is no reason to panic in the district as the dams Banasura Sagar and Karappuzha are still below the storage capacity levels. '' The present storage of the Banasura Sagar Dam on Thursday was 768.55 meters whereas the maximum storage capacity of the dam is 775.50 meters,'' a communiqué of the district administration said.
According to PM Surjith, assistant engineer, Cauvery division, Wayanad, the Kabani basin in Wayanad and also in the Gudalur and Pandalur taluks of Nilgiri district received heavy rainfall which resulted in flood-like situations at various places in the Kabani basin including Noolppuzha. '' A lot of water is yet to flow down to the River Kabani so that the water level of the river would be almost the same for many more hours to come,'' he said. However, by evening on Thursday, Karnataka ordered increasing the water discharge from the Kabini Reservoir to 50,000 cusecs to ensure a low water level.
