First flood alert issued at Mullaperiyar; water level inches towards 141ft

CHENNAI/KOTTAYAM: Tamil Nadu public works department has issued its first-ever flood warning on Friday morning, when the water storage level touched 140ft in the Mullaperiyar dam in Thekkady in Kerala. The storage was inching towards 141ft, a first in 35 years.
In a related development, Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy shot off a letter to Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam, seeking immediate steps to lower the water level in Mullaperiyar dam.Chandy said that people living in and around Mullaperiyar are in fear ever since the water level reached high. With the retreating monsoon gaining strength, there are chances of the water level going up further. The water level can be brought down if the capacity of Vaigai dam in Tamil Nadu is judiciously used.
"I request you to personally intervene in this and give necessary directions to officials concerned," he said. Kerala cabinet too convened an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss the situation and plans are to meet again on Saturday to take a final decision on future steps.
Adhering to standard operating procedure for water release, PWD authorities issued a warning in Thekkady and was all set to issue a second warning when the water level touches 141ft. "The surplus will be released when the water level touches 142ft as per the Supreme Court order," a government official said. The May 2014 SC order allows Tamil Nadu to store water to the full capacity of 7.6tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) in the dam.
Madurai, Dindigul, Theni, Sivaganga and Ramanathapuram districts will benefit from the increased water level, as the increase in storage of about 1.544 tmcft will help irrigate more than two lakh hectares in the region. Both Tamil Nadu and Kerala are at loggerheads over the dam built by Col John Pennycuick after an accord between the princely state of Travancore and Madras Presidency in 1886.
The Kerala government had on Thursday moved a SC-appointed supervisory committee to reduce the water level to 136ft. Pointing to a report of a committee led by Supreme Court justice A S Anand, which stated that the century-old dam was hydrologically, structurally and seismically safe, Tamil Nadu officials said the state had a right to restore the full storage level.
On Friday, a team of officials from Kerala led by irrigation chief engineer P Lathika visited the dam on Friday morning. On return, she said the situation was not alarming and Tamil Nadu officials had assured them that the shutters will be repaired in two days.