Kabini dam in Mysuru maintains high discharge as heavy rain alert continues in Kerala

Mysuru, Aug. 4

Authorities at the Kabini Dam in Karnataka’s Mysuru district are maintaining a high level of water discharge as heavy rainfall continues across Kerala’s catchment areas, with forecasts indicating that inflows into the reservoir are likely to remain strong over the coming days.

The India Meteorological Department’s warning of extremely heavy rainfall, including a Red Alert for Wayanad and other parts of Kerala, has prompted dam officials to closely monitor the situation. Anticipating sustained inflows from the upper catchment, authorities have been releasing nearly the same volume of water entering the reservoir to ensure storage levels remain within safe limits.

At 8 a.m. on Tuesday, the dam recorded an inflow of 27,988 cusecs, while the outflow stood at 27,000 cusecs. Although the reservoir is approaching its Full Reservoir Level (FRL), officials said it still remains nearly two feet below the maximum level, allowing controlled regulation of water releases.

According to officials from the Kabini Reservoir Division at H.D. Kote, around 5.5 thousand million cubic feet (tmcft) of surplus water has been released into the river over the past three days following a sharp increase in inflows after the southwest monsoon revived in Kerala on July 30 and 31.

The inflow began rising significantly on August 2, prompting the authorities to increase water releases the same day. Since then, discharge has remained consistently high to accommodate the continuous inflow from the catchment.

This is the first time during the current monsoon season that the dam’s discharge has crossed 25,000 cusecs for several consecutive days. Water release initially exceeded the mark on the night of August 1, briefly declined the following morning, and then increased again as inflows remained steady.

With the IMD forecasting continued rainfall across Kerala until at least August 9 or 10, officials expect inflows into the Kabini reservoir to remain elevated and said discharge levels will be adjusted as required to ensure the dam’s safety.