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Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sought the urgent intervention of his Tamil Nadu counterpart M. K. Stalin to regulate the water discharge from Mullaperiyar to keep the reservoir’s water level within the safety threshold.
Mr. Vijayan’s letter comes against the dam management’s decision to raise the barrier’s spillway shutters by 12.30 p.m. on Friday.
The dam will release 534 cubic feet of water in the initial phase and incrementally increase the discharge to 1000 cubic feet by 2.30 p.m.
Irrigation Minister Roshy Augustine warned people living downstream of Mullaperiyar to exercise extreme vigilance. He said if the rain continued unabated, the government would be constrained to open the shutters of the Idukki dam.
Mr. Vijayan said in his letter to Mr. Stalin: “As you are aware, the State of Kerala has been experiencing heavy rainfall for the last few days. Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has already issued a red alert in several districts of Kerala, including Idukki, and the water level of Mullaperiyar Dam is nearing 136 feet. If this situation persists, there will be a drastic rise in the water level in the dam due to the heavy inflow into the dam”.
Mr. Vijayan requested Mr. Stalin to “kindly give directions to the authorities concerned to ensure that the outflow/discharge from the dam is more than the inflow, taking into consideration the heavy rainfall in the catchment area of Mullaperiyar Dam”.
Mr. Vijayan also requested Mr. Stalin to inform Kerala about the “opening of shutters at least 24 hours in advance so as to take precautionary measures for the ensuring the safety of people residing downstream of Mullaperiyar dam”.
Tamil Nadu’s opening of Mullaperiyar shutters allegedly without warning in the past years had caused flooding in Kerala and kicked up a political row.
