River(Impounds): Kaveri River
Location: Mettur, Salem District, Tamil Nadu
Opening: 1934
Height: 37 m
Length: 1,700 m
Total Capacity: 93.4 tmc ft
HISTORY:
The Mettur Dam is one of the largest dams in India built in 1934. It was constructed in a gorge, where the Kaveri River enters the plains. 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 maximum level of the dam is 120 ft (37 m) and the maximum capacity is 93.47 tmc ft.
When the dam was planned English people gave some money and evacuated the people who lived in Nayambadi village which was in the place of present Mettur dam. When the water level of the dam recedes even now we can see age old Hindu temples and church emerge from it as a proof. Those people who migrated from Nayambadi have settled down in Martalli village and near by villages which are part of Kollegal district Karnataka state, then those villages were part of Erode district, Tamil Nadu. Those were the days Kaveri disputes were at its peak, whenever disputes broke out these villagers were the victims. People ran here and there to save their lives. Men tried to guard village with weapon, keeping their women and children locked in house.