Tamil Nadu CM Vijay opens Mettur Dam releasing Cauvery water for irrigation in State
This year, for the 62nd time in the dam’s history, water has been discharged after the customary date of June 12. This was the fourth time water discharged from the dam in the month of September.
Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay inaugurated the Mettur Dam's sluice gates on Tuesday (September 1, 2026) to release Cauvery water for irrigation in the state's delta region. Accompanied by a convoy of over 3,800 police personnel, Vijay arrived at Mettur via Salem Airport, where he interacted with farmers and reviewed petitions from them.
The farmers expressed their desire for prolonged water release beyond the initially announced 45 days and requested the government to divert the surplus water from Mettur Dam to water bodies in Thalaivasal.
The water release commenced at 11:30 a.m., with Vijay throwing flowers into the flowing water. Initially, 3,000 cusecs of water were discharged, which was expected to increase to 7,000 cusecs by 8 p.m. The water level at Mettur Dam was 91.56 feet, with a storage level of 54.45 tmcft against the full capacity of 93.47 tmcft. For the next 45 days, water will be discharged from the dam based on its availability, as per the Water Resources Department (WRD).
This marks the 62nd instance of water discharge for delta irrigation from the Mettur Dam, with previous occurrences in 2002, 2012, and 2016.
Written by urgent.news from The Hindu's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
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