Tamil Nadu increased water discharge into the Periyar following heavy rainfall in the catchment area on Wednesday morning. The inflow to the Mullaperiyar dam was 5,082 cusecs and the water level rose to 138.95 ft in the morning.
Eight spillway shutters were opened to 60 cm to discharge 3,915.43 cusecs of water to the Periyar by noon. This was in addition to a tunnel discharge of 2,305 cusecs by Tamil Nadu. The water level declined to 138.85 ft by 5 p.m. A rainfall of 3.2 mm was recorded in the catchment area in Periyar village in the morning.
After closing five shutters by Tuesday evening, only one shutter was kept open at 20 cm, releasing a minimal 148 cusecs of water to the Periyar. The water level on Tuesday was 138.10 ft.
The heavy rainfall from 7 p.m. on Tuesday resulted in the opening of two shutters at 6 a.m., three at 8 a.m. and two more at 12 noon on Wednesday. The Tamil Nadu Public Works Department informed Kerala of releasing 3,005 cusecs of water to the Periyar. The water level in the Periyar increased and the district administration made public announcements urging people to take precautionary measures.
The upper rule curve level of the Mullaperiyar dam till November 10 is 139.50 ft.
Meanwhile, the water level in the Idukki reservoir continued to decline on Wednesday. The water level at 1 p.m. was 2,398.14 ft. There was no rainfall in the catchment areas of the reservoir on Tuesday and power generation was maximum at the Moolamattam power plant. The power generation on Tuesday was 17.452 million units.
An official of the Dam Monitoring and Research Station said power generation at the maximum level and poor rainfall in the catchment area resulted in the decline of water level in the reservoir.
As per the new rule curve for the Idukki dam, the red alert level is 2,398.79 ft and the upper rule level is 2,399.79 ft. The full reservoir level is 2,403 ft. There was 94.33% storage in the dam on Wednesday.
