Mettur to open ahead of schedule on June 6

CHENNAI: The Mettur Dam, the major source for irrigation in the Cauvery delta area, will be opened on June 6, a we­ek ahead of the scheduled date June 12.For the first time since 1950, the Dam is being opened ahead of schedule, on June 6, an official release said.The decision was ta­ken at the first meeting of the AIADMK government’s Cabinet chaired by Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa at Fort St Geo­rge here on Sunday.The move came after taking into account representations from farmers and the present storage of the dam and also in anticipation of a normal south-east monsoo­n as well as the release of water from Karnataka as per the verdict of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal.