Chennai, Aug 4 (IANS): Tamil Nadu Water Resources Department has reduced the release of water from the Mettur dam to 70,000 cusecs.

In a statement, officials of the Water Resources Department said that the discharge has been reduced as the rains in the catchment area of the reservoir in Karnataka have come down.

It may be recalled that heavy rains in Karnataka have led to overflow in Krishna Raja Sagara (KRS) and Kabini dams and following this, the Karnataka government has started discharging water from these dams.

This has led to the Mettur dam in Tamil Nadu reaching its full capacity of 120 ft. Around 1.80 lakh cusecs water was released from there and the banks of Cauvery river in Kamarapalayam, Pallipalayam in Namakkal district and residential areas in Erode district were flooded.

Already, three relief camps have been set up in the Cauvery districts of the state. About 1,870 people are lodged in the three camps, according to Tamil Nadu government officials.

Tamil Nadu Health Minister Ma Subramanian has called for the people living on the banks of Cauvery to be agile as rains would lead to the spread of contagious diseases. The Health Department has already opened several medical camps in districts along the banks of Cauvery river.

Water Resources Department officials also said that they are closely monitoring the water discharge from Mettur dam and the subsequent rise in water level in Cauvery river.