Pillur: Flood warning issued as Aliyar dam is full

Coimbatore: Flood warning has been issued following the release of excess water from the Pillur and Aliyar dams through their sluices on Friday. People living in low-lying areas have been asked to move to safer areas as both the dams are overflowing. At around 9 am, the water level in the Aliyar dam rose above 118.90 feet, against its full level of 120 feet. Upon this, Public Works Department (PWD) officials released 1,100 cusecs of water through its 11 sluices. The Aliyar dam irrigates 6,400 acres of land under the old ayacut area and 44,000 acres of land under the new ayacut area.

Similarly, the Bhavani river is in spate due to the release of about 10,120 cusecs of water from the Pillur dam, which reached its maximum storage capacity of 97 feet against its full storage level (FRL) of 100 feet on Friday. From 87 feet at 4.45 am on Thursday, the water level in the dam rose ten feet in a day to 97 feet on Friday morning following a heavy inflow of over 20,000 cusecs. Around 18,120 cusecs of water was released from the dam at around 6 pm on Friday, leading to flooding along the Bhavani river. This is the third time the Pillur dam has been filled. A team of revenue department officials led by Mettupalayam tahsildar Vasudevan asked people living in low-lying areas to move to safer places as a precautionary measure.