Tamil Nadu alerts Kerala after water level in Mullaperiyar dam touches 136 feet

As the Mullaperiyar dam water level touched 136 feet, Tamil Nadu on Monday advised Kerala to stay alert. The TN government’s PWD department cautioned Idukki district administration with the first warning signal of a possible flood.
The dam is a lifeline to five southern districts of Tamil Nadu such as Madurai, Theni, Dindigul, Sivaganga, and Ramanathapuram. Even though the dam is situated in Kerala, Tamil Nadu’s PWD has control over the maintenance of the dam. The water from the dam is used for the drinking and irrigation needs of Tamil Nadu by diverting Periyar river into the Vaigai dam.

The dam’s catchment areas are reported to have been receiving heavy rainfall as the South-West monsoon turned severe in Kerala. The Periyar dam area recorded 10.4 mm rainfall while Thekkady received 10mm on Sunday thereby resulting in the rise of the water level to 136 feet out of the total capacity of the dam which is 152 feet. The inflow of water to the dam is recorded as 4875 cusecs of water. An estimated amount of 900 cusecs of water are discharged from the dam for irrigation purposes by Tamil Nadu.
With a steady increase in the water level, the areas that lie adjacent to the riverbank such as Vallakadavu and Vandiperiyar were given first flood warning by the officials. The people who reside near the riverbank in Tamil Nadu were also given similar warnings starting from the Lower Camp area.
After seeing a steady rise in the water level in the dam to 136 feet, the PWD officials operating the dam reached out to 23 officials both in Kerala and TN including Idukki and Theni district collectors.
A second warning will be issued once the water level of the dam reaches 141 feet.
The final flood warning will be released as soon as the damn level touches 142 feet said the officials.
(With inputs from HT)

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