More shutters of various dams across the State were raised on Monday to release excess water with rainfall continuing in the catchment areas.
All five shutters of the Cheruthoni dam on the Idukki reservoir, which is part of the Idukki hydel project, were opened on Monday with the water level touching 2,386.10 ft by 3 p.m.
All 10 shutters of the Mullaperiyar dam, which were already open, were raised further on the day. Shutters 1 and 5 of the Cheruthoni dam were raised to 40 cm and shutters 2, 3 and 4 to 120 cm to release 300 cumecs of water due to increased inflow from the Mullaperiyar dam into the Periyar.
Request to T.N.
By Monday evening, all 10 shutters of the Mullaperiyar dam were raised to 90 cm each, according to the Water Resources Department. The water level was at 139.35 ft. Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine said Kerala had requested Tamil Nadu to draw more water from the dam to ease the water level.
The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) opened one of the four spillway shutters of the Banasura Sagar dam in Wayanad after heavy inflow into the reservoir took water levels above 774.25 m.
The shutters of the Kakki-Anathodu reservoir and the Pampa dam in Pathanamthitta district also were raised on Monday. Four gates of the Kakki-Anathodu reservoir was opened at 11 a.m. for discharging 72 cumecs. Later in the day, two shutters of Pampa were raised for releasing 30 cumecs. However, water levels in all major rivers in Pathanamthitta district are going down, as per the latest available reports.
CM’s word of caution
Steps have been taken to relocate people from areas where river water levels are expected to rise due to the controlled release of water from dams, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said on Monday.
As the discharges would cause strong currents, people should avoid entering rivers. People residing on the banks of rivers, including the Periyar and the Pampa, should remain alert, Mr. Vijayan said. Inflow into the dams are strong due to heavy rainfall in the eastern parts of the State. This situation is expected to continue over the next few days, he said.
Meanwhile, the IMD has put Idukki, Thrissur, Palakkad, Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kannur, Malappuram and Kasaragod on yellow alert for isolated heavy rainfall on Tuesday.
