KSEB under pressure to prevent flooding this time

KOCHI: The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) is under tremendous pressure this time to ensure that it plans everything well to prevent a repeat of the August 2018 flood that devastated the state. Though the board has devised certain guidelines that need to be followed to avoid massive discharge of water from dams, it will be forced to change its plan if there is heavy downpour similar to the one that occurred during the first two weeks of August 2018. Last time, experts had blamed the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) for completely messing up management of dams during monsoon and releasing million cubic metres of water from the dams, causing flood in regions downstream.

“We have come out with a set of guidelines to ensure that dams have enough space to hold rainwater. A revised flood control zone level will be finalised to prepare a buffer zone to accommodate more water. The water level will be closely monitored to maintain the flood control level in a comfortable position,” said Dam Safety chief engineer Bibin Joseph. He said their calculations would all go wrong if there is unprecedented heavy rain, which would force them to open shutters to release water. It’s all certain that the entire state will be looking at the KSEB and how it will be managing the water level in its dams during this monsoon.

A report prepared by Joseph N R, a civil engineer and Chalakudy resident, which was taken as a suo motu case by the Kerala High Court, had found that flood occurred only in river basins where dams discharged water and it was not due to the continuous heavy downpour. “Flood was confined to riverside towns like Aluva, Ernakulam, Chalakudy, Palakkad, Kozhikode and Ranni, into which dams were releasing water,” the report said, adding that even the guidelines prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standards were not followed by the KSEB during the last monsoon period.