WRD: No go but to let surplus Cauvery water into sea

In 2022-23, 4,57,393 mcft of water was released via surplus channel of Mettur dam to the river, which eventually reached the sea

- S GURUVANMIKANATHAN

BARELY a few weeks after the water level in Mettur dam went to abysmally low levels, the reservoir is now full and the Cauvery river is in spate as the surplus water is being released into it. This has once again resulted in farmers demanding measures to prevent huge quantity of water getting released into the sea.

While stating that water getting released into the sea cannot be fully prevented due to ecological reasons, officials from the Water Resources Department (WRD) said there are fewer viable options to store large quantity of water.

According to the data from WRD accessed by TNIE, in 202223, the department released 4,57,393 mcft through the surplus channel of Mettur dam to the Cauvery, which eventually reached the sea. This was the highest amount of surplus water handled in 90 years.