Mettur dam opening soon: Agri Minister

Trichy: The Mettur dam, which is customarily opened on June 12 for irrigating kuruvai cultivation in the delta districts, would be opened soon, agriculture minister R Vinoth told reporters near Kumbakonam on Saturday. He also said that the state govt will continue to have a separate agriculture budget.Vinoth inspected commencement of desilting works by the agricultural engineering department in a few C and irrigation channels in Kumbakonam, as well as progress of water hyacinth removal in A and B waterways. He asked officials to complete the works on time for proper distribution of Cauvery waters.Currently, Mettur dam’s water level stood at a height of 79.840 feet out of a maximumheight of 120 feet and a capacity of 41.797 tmcft out of a maximum of 93.4 tmcft. The dam receives an inflow of 759 cusecs of Cauvery wateras of June 6. Farmers are concerned whether the Stanley Reservoir would beopened on June 12 due to its low level and low capacity, currently.