Samba paddy crop to be raised in about 16 lakh acres of land in 12 districts would be irrigated by water to be released from the Mettur Dam from today, a senior PWD official said.
The dam, the main storage across river Cauvery in Tamil Nadu and the lifeline of delta farmers, would be opened for irrigation this evening with the initial release of 6,000 cusecs, PWD Chief Engineer (Cauvery Delta) S Asokan told PTI here.
Asokan, who earlier inspected the dam along with other officials ahead of the water release, said the state had received 39.925 tmc of Cauvery water from Karnataka during June-August as against the stipulated 58.216 tmc, leaving a deficit of 18.291 tmc.
He said the water release for irrigation would be gradually stepped up to reach 20,000 cusecs. Water would be released till January 28.
The water release would also help in generation of about 440 mw of hydel power -- Old Power House (60 MW), Tunnel Power House (240 MW) and six barrages (180 MW), he added.
Water level in the dam this morning stood at 96.51 feet as against the maximum of 120 feet and the storage 60.411 tmc as against 93.4 tmc.
Inflow into the dam was 2,683 cusecs while the outflow was 2,000 cusecs (released for drinking water and other purposes).
The water release for irrigation, traditionally done on June 12, had been delayed due to poor storage. Last year, water was released on August 10.
