Water was released from the Mettur dam here today one week ahead of schedule in order to aid the samba crop across 11 districts.
Six thousand cusecs of water was released on higher sluice at 10:10 this morning by ministers, Mr K.V. Ramalingam (PWD),and Mr Edappadi Palanichamy (Highways and Minor Ports), and by the evening, 12,000 cusecs would have been released, officials said.
Water from the dam is normally released in the evening. The present water level of the dam is 116 ft, as against its full level of 120 ft, they said.
Water from the dam is normally released on June 12, but it has been opened a week ahead of schedule and will aid 16.5 lakh acres of samba crop across 11 districts including Salem, Namakkal, Tanjore and Tiruchi, officials said.
They added that by releasing the water, a total of 370 MW power would be generated through hydroelectricity.
The dam would be open till January 28 next year, they said.