Shutters of Mullaperiyar Dam in Kerala, operated by Tamil Nadu, were lifted on Friday morning
Idukki, Kerala:
Kerala government officials said in Idukki that the shutters of the Tamil Nadu-run Mullaperiyar dam in Kerala were lifted on Friday morning as the water level in the reservoir crossed 138 feet.
He told news agency PTI that Tamil Nadu government officials raised the spillway shutters 3 and 4 of the 126-year-old dam by 0.30 meters at around 7.30 am.
According to him, 538.16 cusecs of water is flowing from these two shutters of the dam since morning.
Kerala government officials said in Idukki that the water level of the Mullaperiyar dam was 138.80 feet at 9 am.
Besides officials from both the states, Kerala Revenue Minister K Rajan and Water Resources Minister Roshi Augustine were present during the opening of the dam’s shutters.
Speaking to reporters, Mr Rajan said there was no need to panic as the government has taken measures to ensure the safety of the people.
However, he appealed to the people to be cautious.
The government has also warned against intimidating social media.
Meanwhile, Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister Duraimurugan said that the state is continuously drawing water through the tunnel to the Vaigai dam.
He said in Chennai that apart from the maximum evacuation of water through the tunnel, the Tamil Nadu government decided to release about 500 cusecs of water from the Mullaperiyar dam by opening two spillway gates from Friday morning.
This was done after the Kerala authorities had already been given notices and warnings, Mr. Duraimurugan said.
“The dam is safe and is carefully operated and regulated by the Department of Water Resources, Government of Tamil Nadu following the rule curve approved by the Central Water Commission. Any news contrary to the above is not true and should be ignored,” Tamil Nadu Minister said in a statement.
The Kerala government has also issued a red alert in the Idukki reservoir in view of the opening of the Mullaperiyar dam and forecast of more rain in the catchment areas, news agency PTI reported.
Augustine said the Idukki reservoir has enough storage capacity to hold the water being released from the Mullaperiyar dam.
The minister has said that there is nothing to be worried and people need not panic as Idukki had a storage capacity of 70.5 TMC as compared to Mullaperiyar’s 12.758 TMC and hence, the water released from the latter will only raise the level of the former . a quarter foot.
People living under the Mullaperiyar dam were evacuated before lifting the shutters as a measure of extreme caution.
According to officials, a total of 1,079 people from 350 families affected by the two-feet high flood have been evacuated.
The Mullaperiyar Dam, built in 1895 on the Periyar River in the Idukki district of Kerala, is operated by the Tamil Nadu government for irrigation and power generation needs.
Kerala has been pushing for a new dam citing security concerns, but Tamil Nadu is against it, saying the existing structure is strong.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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