The Hindu 17.07.2009
Water overflows from Pilloor Dam
Special Correspondent
| Alternate day supply to resume today |
Photo: K. Ananthan 
RELIEF: Water overflowing from the Pilloor Dam is good news for Coimbatore city and suburbs. —
COIMBATORE: The Coimbatore Corporation will resume alternate day supply of drinking water in the city on Friday what with water overflowing from the Pilloor Dam on Thursday and the water level rising fast in the Siruvani Dam, Corporation Commissioner Anshul Mishra said.
Water supply officials in the Corporation said 35,000 cusecs were being discharged from the Pilloor Dam as storage had reached the full capacity of 1,568 million cubic feet. As the inflow was 35,000 ft, that much water had to be let into River Bhavani, they said.
Mayor R. Venkatachalam said the level in the Siruvani Dam was also rising quickly towards the full reservoir level of 67.44 ft. It was 54 ft at 8.30 a.m. on Thursday.
The level rose sharply from 49 ft on Wednesday morning because of 190 mm rain. The dam had 121 mm rain on Wednesday also.
The Mayor said reports from Siruvani Dam said there was heavy rain throughout the day. “ There is heavy inflow from all the falls that bring water from the upper reaches of Siruvani Hills,” he said. “If heavy rain continues, water may overflow from Siruvani Dam on Sunday. We very nearly had a scare during this summer. The monsoon seems to have saved us, at least for now,” he said.
The Commissioner said: “People should still exercise caution in the use of drinking water as the Siruvani Dam is not full yet.”
Though the South West Monsoon was delayed and even dormant for some time, the overflow from Pilloor Dam this time had happened earlier than the one last year, Corporation sources pointed out.
Last year, water overflowed from the dam on July 26. This year, the rain had been heavy enough to make up for the delay.
