Stanley Reservoir (formed behind Mettur Dam) located in

Salem District Salem District is one of the 38 districts of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The district is now divided into Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Namakkal as individual districts. Salem is the district headquarters and other major towns in the dis ...

Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...

is one of largest fishing

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

s in

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

. It was completed in 1934 and was named after Lieutenant Colonel Sir

George Frederick Stanley Sir George Frederick Stanley (14 October 1872 – 1 July 1938) was a British soldier and Conservative Party politician who served as a member of the UK Parliament for Preston and, later, Willesden East. He also served the Governor of Madras fro ...

GCSI GCIE CMG, who served as the

Governor of Madras This is a list of the governors, agents, and presidents of colonial Madras, initially of the English East India Company, up to the end of British colonial rule in 1947. English Agents In 1639, the grant of Madras to the English was finalized ...

from 1929 to 1934. Its main source of water is the

River Kaveri The Kaveri (also known as Cauvery) is a Rivers of India, major river flowing across Southern India. It is the third largest river in the region after Godavari River, Godavari and Krishna River, Krishna. The catchment area of the Kaveri basin i ...

(Cauvery). Three minor tributaries –

Palar Palar (Tamil: ''பாலாறு'' pālāṟu �paːlaːɾu literally "milk river") is a river of southern India. It rises in the Nandi Hills in Chikkaballapura district of Karnataka state, and flows in Karnataka, in Andhra Pradesh and i ...

, Chennar and Thoppar – enter the Kaveri on its course above Stanley Reservoir. The water is retained by the Mettur Dam, Tamil Nadu. Water Catchment Area of Stanley reservoir

Water Catchment Area of Stanley reservoir

The Stanley Reservoir is one of the largest of its kind in India with a total capacity of (93.47

Tmcft Tmcft, (Tmc ft), (TMC), (tmc) is the abbreviation of thousand million cubic feet (1,000,000,000 = 109 = 1 billion), commonly used in India in reference to volume of water in a reservoir or river A river is a natural stream of fresh wa ...

).(2,146,071 acre ft). The creation of the reservoir caused the submersion of two villages, all of whose inhabitants were relocated to

Mettur Mettur is an industrial and tourist town located in the Salem district in the state of Tamil Nadu, India. It is best known for the Mettur Dam which is the largest dam in south India. Mettur is also known for its power generation, chemical man ...

. The total length of the dam is 1700 meters. The Mettur Hydro Electric power project is also quite large. The dam, the park, the major

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

power stations and hills on all sides make Mettur a

tourist attraction A tourist attraction is a place of interest that tourists visit, typically for its inherent or exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement. Types Places of natural beaut ...

References

Reservoirs in Tamil Nadu Kaveri River {{India-struct-stub