Water took over 30 minutes to one hour to travel 24 kilometres to reach the reservoir of Idukki dam. Water from Idukki dam will be released if there was heavy rains in the catchment areas.
The safety of the dam became a topic of discussion after an English daily published an article comparing Mullaperiyar to Morbi river in Gujarat which collapsed in early eighties causing huge losses.
Kochi: Finally water from Mullaperiyar Dam was released at about 7.30 am on Friday in view of the surging of water level crossing 138 feet mark against its full level of 152 feet in the 126-year-old dam. First one spillway shutter was opened followed by the second one.
The water took over 30 minutes to one hour to travel 24 kilometres to reach the reservoir of Idukki dam. Water from Idukki dam will be released if there were heavy rains in the catchment areas.
Water level in Idukki dam stood at 2,398.32 feet against its full level of 2,403 feet.
About 2000 families residing downstream of Mullaperiyar have been shifted to safer areas. Two ministers K Rajan and Roshy Augustine are camping in Idukki to coordinate safety measures. There are 20 relief camps functioning in seven villages in three taluks of Peermedu, Idukki and Udumbanchola.
There were incidents of the residents getting agitated with the police, revenue and elected representatives for not repairing roads and street lights during the eviction process.
This is the third time water is being released from the dam after the Supreme Court allowed Tamil Nadu to increase the water level from 136 feet to 142 feet as an expert committee set up by the apex court concluded that the dam is safe.
After this it was on December 7, 2015, water was released as the water level reached 142 feet. All the five shutters were opened on August 15, 2018, the year Kerala witnessed devastating floods. The shutters remained open until August 23.
Water from Mullaperiyar Dam is taken to Tamil Nadu through Irachipaalam to the lower Periyar camp where the water is released to Vaigai Dam after generating power.
Tamil Nadu generating power had been an issue of contention between the two states as the original agreement signed between the erstwhile Travancore ruler and Madras Presidency gave no provision for power generation. The dam is situated in Idukki district of Kerala and the two streams of Mullai and Periyar originating in the western ghat region in Kerala join together to constitute the river that feeds the reservoir.
The safety of the dam became a topic of discussion after an English daily published an article comparing Mullaperiyar to Morbi river in Gujarat which collapsed in early eighties causing huge losses. This led to the Central Water Commission coming out with a suggestion for its reinforcement.
