COIMBATORE: Bhavani river in spate due to filling of Pillur dam

Coimbatore: Flood warning has been issued for people living along the Bhavani river due to the release of huge amount of water from the Pillaur dam. The water level in the Pillaur Dam has risen due to continuous rains in the Nilgiris and Kerala. The dam reached 97 feet against its full reservoir level of 100 feet on Wednesday and has been maintained at the same level except for the full amount of water flowing into the reservoir. From an inflow of 6,000 cusecs at 6 am on Wednesday, the inflow into the dam more than doubled to 14,000 cusecs at 5 am on Thursday. Therefore, the water level in the dam also increased from 94.50 feet to 97 feet within a day.
When the dam reached its maximum capacity, all the sluices of the reservoir were opened in the morning to release 14,160 cusecs of water. However, the discharge reduced to 12,140 cusecs around 8am, 10,120 cusecs at 9.30am and 8,060 cusecs at 11am. Due to the heavy discharge, the Bhavani river was in full spate and some banana farms located along the waterway were inundated. Following this, a flood warning has been issued to people living along the river. Meanwhile, a holiday was declared for schools in Gudalur and Pandalur taluks of the Nilgiris district on Thursday due to heavy rains. However, educational institutions in Ooty, Coonoor, Kotagiri and Kunda taluks continued to function as usual. There were reports of landslides in Padanthorai and Sankarankolli areas.