With the southwest monsoon gathering momentum along the Western Ghats, water level in the major reservoirs of the district – Papanasam and Manimuthar dams – is increasing steadily to revive farmers’ hopes of enjoying good ‘kar’ paddy season this year.

Since Papanasam and Manimuthar dams determine farming operations in Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts and drinking water supply, water managers had kept their fingers crossed after the Indian Meteorological Department did not favour sufficient rainfall during this southwest monsoon.

However, the weather system prevailing over Kerala and across the Western Ghats has so far brought decent precipitation. Hence, the influx of water into Papanasam and Manimuthar dams has touched decent proportion.

Water level in Papanasam dam, which stood at 49.40 feet on June 4 against its maximum storage level of 143 ft., has reached 90.40 on Friday morning – exactly after a week. Similarly, water level in the Manimuthar dam, the district’s largest reservoir, has rose to 73 ft. as rainfall in the catchment areas is not much impressive.

“It is an encouraging sign as far as Papanasam dam is concerned despite the IMD’s prediction of greater El-Nino impact on this year’s southwest monsoon pattern. We expect good rainfall along the Western Ghats in the days to come to bring good inflow of water into Papanasam and Manimuthar dams. So, we may expect profitable ‘kar’ paddy season this year and sizeable increase in area of cultivation,” said a senior Agriculture Department official.

“Anticipating good rainfall, we’ve stocked chemical fertilizers in sufficient quantity to meet the demand,” the official said.

In Tenkasi district, where the southwest monsoon plays a vital role in determining the annual three-month-long season at Courtallam and the ‘kar’ paddy season, water level in the five dams is encouraging.

Even as the monsoon shows signs of moving to top gear during next week, Gadananathi dam has water for 56 ft. against its maximum capacity of 85 ft. and Ramanadhi dam has water for 60 ft. (the maximum capacity 84 ft.). The district’s smallest dam, Gundar dam, is overflowing after it reached its maximum capacity of 36 ft. Adavinainar dam has water for 72 ft. against the maximum capacity of 132 ft., as on Friday.

With intermittent rains lashing the Western Ghats, the tourists are allowed to take bath only in Tiger Falls and Sitraruvi as Old Courtallam Falls and Five Falls are experiencing flood. As the renovation works taken up belatedly at Main Falls are yet to be completed, the tourists are not yet allowed to take bath in this waterfalls.