Mettur Dam, Hydroelectric dam in Salem district, Tamil Nadu, India

Mettur Dam is a gravity dam on the Kaveri River in Salem district, built with massive concrete blocks and featuring a row of large spillway gates along its crest. The structure forms the Stanley Reservoir, whose water level extends across several kilometers and is surrounded by forested hills rising on the horizon.

British colonial engineers completed construction in 1934 after the project required several years of planning and intensive building work with thousands of laborers. The completion transformed agriculture in the region by enabling reliable irrigation for areas previously dependent on monsoon rains.

The dam is also called Stanley Reservoir, after the engineer Stanley who built it, and the town of Mettur gives the dam its name. When the reservoir level falls, the old Christian church of Nayambadi and Hindu temples from villages flooded for the project come out of the water. Families moved from Nayambadi settled in Martalli, Cowdalli and other villages of Kollegal taluk, Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka.

Visitors can walk along the top of the dam and view the river and reservoir from both sides, with early morning or late afternoon offering cooler temperatures. The site is most active during monsoon season when the spillway gates open and large volumes of water are released.

When the Stanley Reservoir recedes, the old Christian church of Nayambadi and Hindu temples from villages flooded for the dam emerge from the water. Families moved from Nayambadi settled in Martalli, Cowdalli and other villages of Kollegal taluk, Chamarajanagar district, Karnataka.