Chennai, Sept. 1 -- Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay will visit Salem district on Tuesday to open the sluice gates of the Stanley Reservoir at Mettur, facilitating the release of Cauvery water for irrigation in the delta districts.

The Chief Minister is scheduled to open the dam gates at 10 am. The water release is planned for 45 days from September 1, subject to the reservoir's storage levels and inflow conditions.

The opening of the Mettur dam is traditionally scheduled for June 12 every year to facilitate the cultivation of kuruvai, a short-duration paddy crop, in the Cauvery Delta region. However, the exercise was deferred this year due to inadequate rainfall in the Cauvery basin and low storage levels in the reservoir.

Thi...