The government has decided in principle to raise the height of Peppara dam by 3 metres so as to increase the storage level to meet future requirements. Peppara dam is the source of drinking water supply to Thiruvananthapuram.
A high-level meeting convened by Minister for Water Resources P.J. Joseph two months ago had discussed the project proposal submitted by the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) to raise the dam height and it was now decided to give in-principle approval.
A source in the KWA told The Hindu on Thursday that the meeting had decided to proceed with the project in consultation with the Law Department as the Forest Department had raised concerns, including loss of biodiversity, in implementing the project. Besides the Minister and officials from the KWA, senior officers from the Forest Department also attended the meeting.
Subsequent to the meeting, the source said, the KWA had requested the Forest Department to conduct a joint inspection of the dam site. The KWA was awaiting the response of the department to proceed with the project, he added.
The demand to raise the height, to be effected by lowering the radial gates so that the level can be increased to 107.50 metres from the present 104.50 metres, was put on hold following certain conditions put forth by the department, which the KWA considered too stringent. The department had pointed out that 80 hectares of forestland would be inundated if the level was increased by 3 metres. The move was also opposed by several environmental groups.
“We are holding talks with the department to reduce the environmental impact,” KWA managing director Ashok Kumar Singh said.
By increasing the height to 107.50 metres from 104.50 metres, the storage level can be enhanced to 50.20 million metric cubes of water from its present capacity of 40 million metric cubes. This would help enhance the water storage for another 35 days with the present level enabling the water utility to store water for 120 days.