Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. (File)
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday wrote to his counterpart in Tamil Nadu and sought his intervention in regulating water level at the Mullaperiyar dam at 139 feet from the permissible 142 feet.
Citing extreme weather conditions and unusual surge in inflow, he said: “Ideally the storage shouldn’t have been allowed to go beyond 140 feet and controlled releases ought to have started at 139 feet so as to avoid unnecessary inundation and destruction likely from uncontrolled and sudden discharges at 142 feet.”
Kerala has been battered by unabated rainfall that has led to heavy flooding and landslides. At least 47 people have died in the state so far even as a red alert has been sounded in 12 of the 14 districts. On Tuesday, the Kerala government urged people living in Idukki district of the state to move to camps after Tamil Nadu government said it has to release water from upstream Mullaperiyar dam.
Water from Mullaperiyar flows down to Idukki reservoir, which is already brimming with a storage of 2,397 feet against its maximum capacity of 2,403 feet.
Rescue operations in Kochi. Flood death toll 67. (PTI Photo)
In his letter, accessed by The Indian Express, Vijayan has also claimed that the authorities concerned had started discharging water from Mullaperiyar through its spillway gates at a rate of 4,490 cusec (cubic feet per second) after water level reached 140 feet with all 13 shutters open at a level of one foot. This was in addition to the tunnel release, he said, adding that the inflow at the time was 21,690 cusec.
“It is seen that at several points the discharge was decreased through the spillway gates, despite the knowledge of the heavy rainfall in the catchment area of the Mullaperiyar dam. Sharing of information is not forthcoming on the quantum of discharge through the spillway gates except stating that the authorities would act as per protocol,” the letter said.
Vijayan also claimed that field engineers, posted at Mullaperiyar dam, were “not cooperating”.
“As I write to you, I am informed that Tamil Nadu field engineers have informed that their digital water level recorders are now malfunctioning and hence are unable to record water levels accurately and are measuring the same manually from ordinary gauge posts installed in the river. Such a stand is inappropriate as the readings from manual gauge posts are prone to error, more so given the current weather and wind condition at the dam site.”
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On Wednesday evening, Vijayan told reporters that Tamil Nadu had finally equalised the quantity of release with the surge inflow following state’s repeated communication.
A top official in Tamil Nadu said they were working closely with Kerala government. “District collectors of Theni and Idukki are working together. We will take all necessary steps to control the water level in Mullaperiyar dam,” the official said.
R Subramanian, chairman of Tamil Nadu’s Committee To Coordinate (CTC), under the empowered panel on Mullaperiyar dam, said following Vijayan’s letter, engineers have been told to maintain inflow and release quantity at same level.
Kerala rains LIVE UPDATES: Rescuers evacuate people from a flood-hit locality, in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. (PTI Photo)
“Over 20,000 cusec water (from the dam) is being discharged right now and the inflow is recorded as the same. It is an extraordinary rainfall this year and the situation worsened at Mullaperiyar in the last two days. Besides discharging water through 13 spillways, we are also diverting water towards Vaigai basin and power production, total of around 2000-2500 cusec quantity for both,” he told The Indian Express.