Mettur

Mettur is also known for its power generation, chemical manufacturing, and aluminium production. Most of the water requirements for irrigation in Tamil Nadu is provided by the Mettur Dam. Usually the dam opens in June every year for irrigation in the Kaveri Delta. Mettur is also one of the primary sources of electricity for Tamil Nadu. The Mettur Thermal Power Station acts as a base load power plant for the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board (TNEB). As of 2011, the town had a population of 52,813.

Geography

There is a park located at the base of Mettur Dam, where there are a snake park, deer park, and views of the dam. A charge for sightseeing of the dam is fixed.

Nerinjipettai is about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) from the heart of Mettur at the foot of Palamalai. The hills almost reach out to the river with just the State Highway from Mettur to Erode between the river and the hills. There is boat transportation to Poolampatti, a place known for shooting films.

Pannavadi Parisal Thurai near Kolathur is located 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) far from Mettur. There is a boat transportation in between the Kolathur and Nerupur of Dharmapuri district. The boat transportation also available from Koattaiyur it is 20 kilometres (12 mi) from Mettur. When the water level decreases in Mettur dam, it is possible to see an Old Nandhi statue, an old church, and a palace (Koattai) of Tippu Sultan which has sunk beneath the water.

Palar, located 30 kilometres (19 mi) from Mettur, is at the border for Karnataka and Tamil Nadu State.

Male Mahadeshwara Hills is a famous pilgrimage in Karnataka for lord shiva, located 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Mettur. From there it is also possible to reach Mysore .

One of the famous mariyamman festival celebration during the summer in Tamil term Vaikasi Masam thiruvizha is celebrated in the temple called "sri Anukundu mariyamman kovil" Thiruvizha that temple located in PERIYAR NAGAR near Ukkamparuthikkadu.

Mettur can be divided into upper and lower Mettur based on whether the part of the town lies upstream or downstream of the river.

Mettur, meaning "town with crests and troughs", obtained its name from the undulating rocky nature of the land that makes the town an ideal place for the dam on Cauvery river.

Mettur is located at border of the Erode, Salem, and Dharmapuri districts, and is approximately one and half hours travel-distance by road from the district headquarters.

Palamalai ("malai" meaning "hill" in Tamil language) is an offshoot of the Eastern Ghats, geographically contiguous with the BR hills Biligiriranga Hills range as they reach out to merge with the Western Ghats at Nilgiris.

The town houses the Stanley Reservoir, which is a standing example of British stone masonry, and the 1,700 metres (5,600 ft) dam. The reservoir capacity touches 120 feet when full, and can rise a few feet beyond its full capacity during surplus seasons.

The town is hemmed to a narrow strip of less than a kilometre in width by the Cauvery let out by the Dam on the east, and Eli Karadu (Mouse hill) on the west. This forms an interesting pattern of three similar peaks with identical longer shoulders to their left, increasing in height from the Dam's crest level about a 1,000 feet (300 m) from sea level in the north to about 4,000 feet (1,200 m) peak in the Palamalai.

Stanley Reservoir

Mettur Dam, which forms Stanley Reservoir, is constructed across the Kaveri River in Tamil Nadu. It was constructed in 1934 and took 9 years to complete. Maximum height and width of the Dam are 214 and 171 feet respectively. Maximum storage height is 120 feet. Mettur Dam receives the water from both Kabini Dam and Krishna Raja Sagara Dam located in Karnataka. There are 2 hydroelectric power stations in Mettur Dam, the first constructed during British rule and the second during the Indian Republic. There is a park at the base of the dam called Ellis Park maintained by the Tamil Nadu Public Works Department.

Electrical power

Mettur is one of the sources of electricity for Tamil Nadu. It has thermal and hydroelectric power stations.

The 840-megawatt thermal power station acts as one of the base load power plants for Tamil Nadu each. A new power station has also been constructed with a capacity of 600 megawatts.

There are two hydroelectric power stations at Mettur, called Dam and Tunnel Power Houses, respectively. Dam Power House has a capacity of 40 MW, and Tunnel Power House has a capacity of 200 MW.

Mettur also has several barriage power houses located in the bank of Kaveri River, namely Chekkanur, Nerinjipettai, Koneripatti, UratchiKottai, and Bhavani Kattalai Barriage.

It has one of the largest private sector power suppliers in Madras Aluminium Company (MALCO), which has a power generation capacity of 100 MW from four units of 25 MW each.

Climate