Mettur Dam

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Mettur Dam (மேட்டுர் அணை)
Location	Mettur, Salem District, Tamil Nadu, India
Coordinates	11°48′00″N 77°48′00″ECoordinates: 11°48′00″N 77°48′00″E
Opening date	1934
Dam and spillways
Height	120 ft.
Length	1700 meters
Reservoir
Creates	Stanley Reservoir
Capacity: 93.4 billion ft³ (2.64 km³)

Details in Tamil

The Mettur Dam is one of the largest dams in India built in 1934.^[1] It was constructed in a gorge, where the Kaveri River enters the plains. The dam is one of the oldest in India^{[citation needed]}. It provides irrigation facilities to parts of Salem, the length of Erode, Namakkal, Karur, Tiruchirappali and Thanjavur district for 271,000 acres (110,000 ha) of farm land.
The total length of the dam is 1,700 m (5,600 ft). The dam creates Stanley Reservoir. The Mettur Hydro Electrical power project is also quite large. The dam, the park, the major Hydro Electric power stations and hills on all sides make Mettur a tourist attraction. Upstream from the dam is Hogenakal Falls.
The government of India's water resources ministry site^[1] the Mettur dam is an old multipurpose project of the south Indian state (province) of Tamil Nadu across the Cauvery river. It irrigates 1,310 km² (510 sq mi) of land each year. Its installed capacity for hydro-power generation is 250 MW.(Dam scheme 50 MW & tunnel scheme 200 MW)
The maximum level of the dam is 120 ft (37 m) and the maximum capacity is 93.4 tmc ft.In 2012,Mettur dam would not be opened for irrigation on the scheduled dte of 12 June.^[2]

Contents

• 1 Water dispute
• 2 See also
• 3 Notes
• 4 External links

Water dispute

The Mettur Dam has received attention of the public during the recent past because of the Kaveri water dispute between the States of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka.^[3] Consequent to building dams, including the Kabini Dam, across the Kaveri River in Karnataka, the Mettur Dam does not receive much water during lean seasons. Thus, the Dam nearly goes dry during certain parts of the year, when water is most needed by the farmers and general public of the states of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. This has created serious dispute and tension between the neighbouring States of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. Governments of the respective states, the Supreme Court and the Kaveri Tribunal have so far not been successful in solving the dispute. Meanwhile, Kaveri Water Tribunal has been constituted to solve the problem and the tribunal has passed it verdict of 419 tmc to Tamil Nadu, 270 tmc to Karnataka, 50 tmc to Kerala and 7 tmc to Puducherry, which has been held highly unsatisfactory by the states of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka and has challenged the verdict in the supreme court. The Central government after being condemned by the Judge of the Supreme court has finally notified the Kaveri Tribunal verdict in the Gazette. Farmers and People across the Agricultural State of Tamil Nadu burst out of Jubilation as the result of the long pending justice being established. It is however undeniable that the people of Karnataka living in the Kaveri basin feel this is not justice.
The capacity of the dam is 93.4 billion ft³ (2.64 km³) nearly twice that of its Karnataka counterpart of KRS, is revered as the life and life hood giving asset of Tamil Nadu. This dam was built in line with KRS Dam which was designed by Sir M Vishveswariah^[4] in 1911 and completed in 1917 near Mysore.