Mettur

2024-06-30T20:40:41Z

2603:6010:E302:9462:4530:254C:CB2C:DAE9: /* Government and politics */

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use Indian English|date=September 2017}}

{{Infobox settlement
| name = Mettur
| native_name =
| native_name_lang =
| other_name =
| settlement_type = Town
| image_skyline = Metturdamfull.jpg
| image_alt =
| image_caption = Mettur Dam
| nickname =
| pushpin_map = India Tamil Nadu
| pushpin_label_position = right
| pushpin_map_alt =
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Tamil Nadu, India
| coordinates = {{coord|11.80|N|77.80|E|display=inline,title}}
| subdivision_type = Country
| subdivision_name = {{flag|India}}
| subdivision_type1 = [[States and territories of India|State]]
| subdivision_type2 = [[Region]]
| subdivision_type3 = [[List of districts of India|District]]
| subdivision_name1 = [[Tamil Nadu]]
| subdivision_name2 = [[Tamil Nadu]]
| subdivision_name3 = [[Salem district|Salem]]
| established_title = 
| established_date =
| founder =
| named_for =
| government_type =
| governing_body =
| unit_pref = Metric
| area_footnotes =
| area_total_km2 =
| area_rank =
| elevation_footnotes =
| elevation_m = 238
| population_total = 52813
| population_as_of = 2011
| population_footnotes =
| population_density_km2 = auto
| population_rank =
| population_demonym =
| demographics_type1 = Languages
| demographics1_title1 = Official
| timezone1 = [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| utc_offset1 = +5:30
| postal_code_type = 
| postal_code = 636401
| registration_plate = TN-52,93
| website =
| footnotes =
| demographics1_info1 = [[Tamil language|Tamil]]
| demographics1_title2 = Other
| demographics1_info2 = [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[English language|English]]
}}

'''Mettur''' is an industrial and tourist town located in the [[Salem district]] in the [[States and territories of India|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 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==
[[File:Park mettur.jpg|thumb|200px|Ellis Park across [[Mettur Dam]]]]
[[File:Poolampatti 1.jpg|thumb|200px|Poolampatti boat view across [[Kaveri river]]]]

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 {{convert|4|km}} 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.{{fact|date=January 2019}}

Pannavadi Parisal Thurai near Kolathur is located {{convert|12|km}} 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 {{convert|20|km}} 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 {{convert|30|km}} 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 {{convert|40|km}} 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.

[[File:Architect of Mettur Dam Colonel W.M.Ellis,C.I.E,R.E.jpg|190px|thumb|right|Colonel W.M Ellis]]

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 District|Erode]], [[Salem District|Salem]], and [[Dharmapuri district|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 (mountains)|Nilgiris]].

The town houses the Stanley Reservoir, which is a standing example of British stone masonry, and the {{convert|1700|m}} 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 {{convert|1000|ft}} from sea level in the north to about {{convert|4000|ft}} 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 power station|thermal]] and [[Hydroelectricity|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.{{citation needed|date=December 2016}}

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{{clarify|date=December 2016|reason=Unknown term}} power houses located in the bank of Kaveri River, namely Chekkanur, Nerinjipettai, Koneripatti, UratchiKottai, and Bhavani Kattalai Barriage.

It{{Specify|reason=What?|date=December 2016}} has one of the largest private sector power suppliers in [[Madras Aluminium Company Limited|Madras Aluminium Company (MALCO)]], which has a power generation capacity of 100 MW from four units of 25 MW each.

=== Climate ===
{{Weather box
|location = Mettur ([[Mettur Dam]]) 1981–2010, extremes 1951–2006
| metric first = Yes
| single line = Yes
| Jan record high C = 37.6
| Feb record high C = 39.0
| Mar record high C = 40.9
| Apr record high C = 41.6
| May record high C = 42.4
| Jun record high C = 42.0
| Jul record high C = 39.4
| Aug record high C = 38.0
| Sep record high C = 38.9
| Oct record high C = 38.0
| Nov record high C = 37.6
| Dec record high C = 34.4
| year record high C = 42.4
| Jan high C = 31.9
| Feb high C = 34.5
| Mar high C = 37.0
| Apr high C = 37.9
| May high C = 37.9
| Jun high C = 35.5
| Jul high C = 34.6
| Aug high C = 34.1
| Sep high C = 34.2
| Oct high C = 32.9
| Nov high C = 31.6
| Dec high C = 30.7
| year high C = 34.4
| Jan low C = 20.4
| Feb low C = 21.8
| Mar low C = 24.2
| Apr low C = 26.2
| May low C = 25.8
| Jun low C = 25.0
| Jul low C = 24.5
| Aug low C = 24.1
| Sep low C = 23.8
| Oct low C = 23.4
| Nov low C = 22.3
| Dec low C = 20.7
| year low C = 23.5
| Jan record low C = 14.4
| Feb record low C = 13.1
| Mar record low C = 17.4
| Apr record low C = 19.6
| May record low C = 20.7
| Jun record low C = 18.6
| Jul record low C = 16.8
| Aug record low C = 21.0
| Sep record low C = 18.2
| Oct record low C = 18.5
| Nov record low C = 16.4
| Dec record low C = 14.0
| year record low C = 13.1
| rain colour = green
| Jan rain mm = 4.9
| Feb rain mm = 7.0
| Mar rain mm = 20.4
| Apr rain mm = 76.6
| May rain mm = 105.0
| Jun rain mm = 48.3
| Jul rain mm = 77.7
| Aug rain mm = 92.7
| Sep rain mm = 157.9
| Oct rain mm = 185.5
| Nov rain mm = 97.5
| Dec rain mm = 34.8
| year rain mm = 908.4
| Jan rain days = 0.5
| Feb rain days = 0.5
| Mar rain days = 1.1
| Apr rain days = 3.4
| May rain days = 5.9
| Jun rain days = 3.5
| Jul rain days = 5.2
| Aug rain days = 5.4
| Sep rain days = 9.0
| Oct rain days = 9.3
| Nov rain days = 5.4
| Dec rain days = 2.3
| year rain days = 51.7
|time day = 17:30 [[Indian Standard Time|IST]]
| Jan humidity = 40
| Feb humidity = 30
| Mar humidity = 27
| Apr humidity = 36
| May humidity = 43
| Jun humidity = 48
| Jul humidity = 51
| Aug humidity = 52
| Sep humidity = 55
| Oct humidity = 61
| Nov humidity = 59
| Dec humidity = 51
|year humidity = 46
|source 1 = [[India Meteorological Department]]<ref name=IMDnormals>
{{cite web
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200205040301/http://imdpune.gov.in/library/public/1981-2010%20CLIM%20NORMALS%20%28STATWISE%29.pdf
| archive-date = 5 February 2020
| url = http://imdpune.gov.in/library/public/1981-2010%20CLIM%20NORMALS%20%28STATWISE%29.pdf
| title = Station: Mettur Dam Climatological Table 1981–2010
| work = Climatological Normals 1981–2010
| publisher = India Meteorological Department
| date = January 2015
| pages = 491–492
| access-date = 24 March 2020}}</ref><ref name=IMDextremes>
{{cite web
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200205042509/http://imdpune.gov.in/library/public/EXTREMES%20OF%20TEMPERATURE%20and%20RAINFALL%20upto%202012.pdf
| archive-date = 5 February 2020
| url = http://imdpune.gov.in/library/public/EXTREMES%20OF%20TEMPERATURE%20and%20RAINFALL%20upto%202012.pdf
| title = Extremes of Temperature & Rainfall for Indian Stations (Up to 2012)
| publisher = India Meteorological Department
| date = December 2016
| page = M199
| access-date = 24 March 2020}}</ref>
}}

== Demographics ==
=== Population ===

{{bar box|title=Religious census|titlebar=#ddd|left1=Religion|right1=Percent(%)|float=left|bars={{bar percent|[[Hinduism|Hindu]]|Orange|88.43}}{{bar percent|[[Islam|Muslim]]|Green|3.58}}{{bar percent|[[Christianity|Christian]]|purple|7.72}}{{bar percent|[[Sikhism|Sikh]]|yellow|0.01}}{{bar percent|[[Buddhism|Buddhist]]|Gold|0.01}}{{bar percent|[[Jainism|Jain]]|Blue|0.0}}{{bar percent|Other|grey|0.25}}{{bar percent|[[Irreligion|No religion]]|violet|0.01}}}}
According to [[2011 census of India|2011 census]], Mettur had a population of 52,813 with a sex-ratio of 1,016 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929.<ref name="dashboard">{{cite web|title=Census Info 2011 Final population totals|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/censusinfodashboard/index.html|publisher=Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India|year=2013|access-date=26 January 2014}}</ref> A total of 4,286 were under the age of six, constituting 2,216 males and 2,070 females. [[Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes]] accounted for 19.43% and 0.42% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 76.82%, compared to the national average of 72.99%.<ref name="dashboard"/> The town had a total of 14,282 households. There were a total of 19,305 workers, comprising 78 cultivators, 304 main agricultural labourers, 316 in house hold industries, 16,194 other workers, 2,413 marginal workers, 13 marginal cultivators, 160 marginal agricultural labourers, 141 marginal workers in household industries and 2,099 other marginal workers.<ref name=2011census>{{cite web|title=Census Info 2011 Final population totals - Mettur|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/pca/SearchDetails.aspx?Id=684205|publisher=Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India|year=2013|access-date=26 January 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924144319/http://www.censusindia.gov.in/pca/SearchDetails.aspx?Id=684205|archive-date=24 September 2015|df=dmy-all}}</ref> As per the religious census of 2011, Mettur had 88.43% [[Hindus]], 3.58% [[Muslims]], 7.72% [[Christians]], 0.01% [[Sikhs]], 0.01% [[Buddhists]], 0.0% [[Jainism|Jains]], 0.25% following other religions and 0.01% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.<ref name=religion2011>{{cite web|title=Population By Religious Community - Tamil Nadu|year=2011|url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/2011census/C-01.html|format=XLS|publisher=Office of The Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India|access-date=13 September 2015}}</ref>

== Government and politics ==
The Mettur assembly constituency is part of [[Dharmapuri (Lok Sabha constituency)]].<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://archive.eci.gov.in/se2001/background/S22/TN_ACPC.pdf
|title=List of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies
|access-date=2008-10-09
|work=Tamil Nadu
|publisher=Election Commission of India
|url-status=dead
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090304010951/http://archive.eci.gov.in/se2001/background/S22/TN_ACPC.pdf
|archive-date=2009-03-04
}}</ref>

== Economy ==
Mettur has a number of industries. An important one is chemical manufacturing: [[Mettur Chemicals]] (now known as [[Chemplast]]), (not only that there are more) has four large plants manufacturing chemicals, soaps, and industrial gases. MALCO, one of the main aluminium producers, runs a famous matriculation and higher secondary school. SISCOL (Southern Iron and Steel Company Limited, now a part of Jindal groups ([[JSW Steel Ltd]])) is a new addition to the region though it is located at Pottaneri, {{convert|15|km}} from Mettur and {{convert|32|km}} from Salem, the district headquarters. SAIL's Salem Steel plant is nearby. High-grade granite is quarried in the Eli Karadu Hills.

Mettur is also called the "Aluminium city of Tamil Nadu". Its aluminium plant, operated by MALCO, has its own [[bauxite]] mines at Yercaud (Salem district) and Kolli Hills (Namakkal district). The company is one of five integrated primary aluminium producers in India, with an alumina refinery capacity of 55,000 tonnes per annum (tpa) and an aluminium smelter capacity of 29,500 tpa.

=== Industrial pollution ===

Mettur's industrial development has taken a heavy toll on many parts of its farming and fishing communities. However, despite protest from both international groups such as [[Greenpeace]] and local groups such as [[West Gonur Farmers' Association]] or [[SpeakOut Salem!]], the local authorities have failed to bring the problems under control.<ref>"The Stranger- the Chlorine Industry in India", Greenpeace International, 1996. Page 21 & 66</ref>

Recent tests undertaken by Dr. Ruth Stringer and Dr. Mark Chernaik of ELAW-US (an Oregon-based environmental laboratory) revealed high levels of contamination. From nine samples taken from around the plants run by Chemplast and MALCO, there were 17 chemicals were found to be at levels significantly above USEPA 'safe' levels.<ref>{{cite web|title=Unfolding Disaster. A Study of Chemplast Sanmar's Contamination in Mettur|url=http://www.sipcotcuddalore.com/downloads/Mettur_Report_Nov_2007_English.pdf|publisher=Community Environmental Monitoring|access-date=10 November 2012|date=November 2007}}</ref>

== Culture/Cityscape ==

Villagers in Mettur celebrate the Mariamman festival during the summer vacation time (May) and lasts for an entire week.

The [[Aadi Perukku]] festival is celebrated every year on 18th day of Tamil month Adi.

[[File:Mettur. Pannavadi Nandhi statue & Jalagandeswarar temple............ deep inside the Mettur dam(2).jpg|alt=Pannavadi Nandhi statue & Jalagandeswarar temple|thumb|Pannavadi Nandhi statue & Jalagandeswarar temple. Located deep inside the Mettur dam.]]


== Transport ==
=== By Air ===

The nearest airport is [[Salem Airport (India)|Salem Airport]], which has daily flights to Chennai.
=== By Rail ===

There is a railway station located near the upper part of Mettur Dam that connects to Salem. From the station there is also a daily express train to and from Salem

=== By Road ===
Mettur, being close to the transportation hubs of [[Erode]] and [[Salem, Tamil Nadu|Salem]], is well connected to both these cities as well as to [[Dharmapuri]]. Bus services operate from Erode and Salem at the high frequency, with bus services typically once every 5 minutes. There is a shortcut for Coimbatore from Dharmapuri via Thoppur, Mettur, Bhavani (which can save up to {{convert|20|km}} travel) without reaching Salem by NH47 due to the high volume of traffic between Coimbatore and Salem, especially between Coimbatore and Avinashi on NH47. There is also a route to [[Mysuru]]-Karnataka through Madeswaran Malai (madeswaran Betta) and [[Kollegal]] from Mettur.

== References ==
{{Commons category|Mettur}}
{{Reflist}}

{{Municipalities of Tamil Nadu}}
{{Salem District}}

[[Category:Cities and towns in Salem district]]

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