KOCHI: People living on the banks of the Periyar in close proximity to the Mullaperiyar Dam heaved a sigh of relief as the water level in the reservoir showed a declining trend after going up continuously in the past few days. The storage level in the dam fell to 141 ft on Sunday from 141.2 ft on Saturday.
The water started receding following the decline in the inflow into the dam as well as weakening of rainfall in the catchment areas of the dam, sources said.
The Tamil Nadu Government had rejected Kerala’s demand to bring down the water level in the dam. In a letter to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O.Pannerselvam stated that farmers in five districts of the State depended on water from Mullaperiyar.
The Supreme Court verdict had also approved the storage level at 142 ft, the letter pointed out. Paneerselvam’s letter was in reply to a request from Chandy to bring down the water level in view of the fear and anxiety of the people living in the vicinity of the dam.
State Water Resources Minister P.J.Joseph had convened a meeting of higher officials in Idukki on Monday to take stock of the situation.
The State Government had already filed an interim petition before the Supreme Court seeking to issue a directive to the Tamil Nadu Government to bring down the storage level of water in the dam to136 ft in view of the safety concerns over the structure.
The inflow of water into the dam came down to 1,500 cubic feet per second by Sunday compared to 3,357 cubic feet per second on Saturday, sources said. On an average, Tamil Nadu took 900 cubic feet of water per second from the dam, they added.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy on Saturday itself had issued a directive to the district administration in Idukki to take steps to evacuate people living in vulnerable villages as a precautionary measure.
Ayyapankovil, Anavilams, Upputhara, Elappara, Periyar, Manchumala and Kanchiyar are villages identified as vulnerable.
The district administration had taken steps to shift at least 150 families from these regions to safe zones. But, many people were reluctant to leave their abodes expressing concern over their property and lack of facilities in shelter homes identified by Government agencies.
The Government had also deployed two battalions of Rapid Action Force and over 200 trained swimmers in the region as part of precautionary measures.
