SALEM: Chief minister C Joseph Vijay is likely to release water from the Mettur dam on Friday for irrigation in the delta districts, according to sources. On Wednesday, security arrangements at the dam were reviewed by senior police officials as the water level continued to rise, nearing the 90 feet required for irrigation release. The dam’s water level stood at 88.84 feet on Wednesday, with a storage of 51.33 tmc feet and an inflow of 10,405 cusecs.Western zone inspector general R V Ramya Bharathi, Salem range DIG Santosh Hadimani and Salem district superintendent of police S Kuthalingam inspected the Mettur dam and held discussions with water resources department officials on safety measures and operational readiness. Police personnel were deployed at the dam as preparatory work intensified. The water resources department began painting and cleaning operations around the dam premises.The Mettur dam, with a full reservoir level of 120 feet, provided irrigation to 16.05 lakh acres across 12 districts, including Salem, Erode, Namakkal, Tiruchi, Thanjavur and Tiruvarur. This year, water could not be released on June 12 due to low levels, leaving the delta dry and forcing farmers to depend on well irrigation for kuruvai crop cultivation.Water resources minister S Anand told the assembly on Tuesday that “good news will be conveyed to farmers soon,” indicating that irrigation release was imminent.A total of 2,000 cusecs of water was released for drinking purposes. Meanwhile, the surplus release from Karnataka’s Kabini dam was reduced to 6,263 cusecs.
