Discharge from Bhavanisagar Dam stepped up

People in low-lying areas asked to move to safer places

With the water level at the Bhavanisagar Dam inching closer to the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 105 feet, discharge has been increased to 8,000 cusecs on Monday.

At 4 p.m., the inflow into the reservoir was 4,972 cusecs while the water level stood at 103.62 feet. The storage was 31.64 thousand million cubic feet (tmc) against the capacity of 32.80 tmc. The discharge was 6,500 cusecs into River Bhavani and 1,500 cusecs into Lower Bhavani Project (LBP) canal. The discharge into Kalingarayan Canal and Arakankottai-Thadapalli canals were stopped due to rain.

A Public Works Department official said that since inflow is expected to increase due to rain in catchment areas, the discharge was stepped up to prevent flooding in the river. “Currently, surplus water is discharged through the spillways into the River Bhavani”, they added.