Rising water level in the Periyar river led to flooding in Aluva area of Kochi. (Photo: Prashant Chandra)
The Cochin International Airport suspended all flight operations till 2 pm Wednesday due to a rise in flood water level in and around the airport since early morning. The decision was taken at an emergency meeting held at the airport at 6 am today. Earlier at 3.30 am, the airport had decided to suspend arrival operations from 4 am to 7 am as a precautionary measure.
The flood situation got worse after the discharge of water from Idukki reservoir increased, which may further go up after Tamil Nadu released water from Mullaperiyar dam earlier this morning. After water level in Mullaperiyar dam rose to 140 ft, the Tamil Nadu government began releasing 4500 cubic meters of water per second since 2.45 am today. This discharge from the dam would flow down to Idukki reservoir, which is barely 3 ft to its full reservoir level of 2403 ft.
As a response, the Idukki district administration allowed the Kerala State Electricity Board to increase the discharge of water at 1000 cubic meters of water per second from 6 am onwards. The government also issued an alert to people residing along the banks of Periyar river in Idukki and Ernakulam and asked them to move to relief camps.
Around 4000 people have been identified to be shifted to relief camps along the stretch from Vallakkadu, the discharge point of Mullaperiyar dam, to Idukki reservoir. The Ernakulam district administration opened 34 camps on Wednesday morning to lodge 296 families.