Amidst demand that Tamil Nadu draw more water from the Mullaperiyar reservoir, the water level in the reservoir has begun to rise causing some alarm in the downstream areas.
The water level in the reservoir crossed the 136 ft mark at 4 a.m. on Tuesday prompting the district administration to sound the first alert for people living in the downstream areas.
If the water level breaches the maximum level of 142 ft, water will be discharged into the Periyar on the upstream of Idukki reservoir.
The water level reached 136 ft at 4 a.m. from 135.40 ft at 2 p.m. on Monday. The water level kept rising through the morning and stood at 136.40 ft. at 10 am. The upstream forest area of the dam has been receiving heavy rainfall since last night.
Tamil Nadu has been drawing water at 2,200 cft. It was raised to that level from 2,200 cft on Sunday. The inflow was 4,419 cubic feet per second this morning.
The areas of Vallakadavu, Vandiperiyar, Chapathu and Upputhara will be affected in case the water is released to the Periyar.