With water level touching 102 feet in Bhavanisagar reservoir at 9 a.m. on Friday, 6,100 cusecs of surplus water is being released into River Bhavani.
Officials of the Water Resources Department said that though the full reservoir level is 105 feet, as per flood regulation norms, the quantum of water that could be stored for August is 102 feet. “The water level reached 102 feet and the surplus water is being discharged into the river”, an official said. At 10 a.m., the inflow was 6,113 cusecs while the storage was 30.31 tmc ft against the capacity of 32.80 tmc ft.
Since construction of the dam in 1955, this was the 22 nd time that the water level touched 102 feet and surplus water is being discharged. Officials said that inflow is expected to increase over the day as rain continues in the catchment areas.
Flood alert issues
Meanwhile, a flood alert has been issued to people living on banks of the river in the taluks of Sathyamangalam, Gobichettipalayam, Anthiyur and Bhavani and people were asked to move to safe locations. They were also warned against taking their cattle into the river or entering for bathing and washing clothes. The river flows through these taluks, reaches Kodiveri anicut and Kalingarayan anicut at Bhavani and confluences with River Cauvery at Kooduthurai in Bhavani. The stretch of the river in Erode district is 91 km.
Revenue officials, who continue to monitor the situation, said no houses located near the river were flooded and added that the situation would turn worse only if the discharge was over 40,000 cusecs.
