Water released from Mullaperiyar: Chaos in downstream villages

The Idukki district administration failed to alert the people in time on the release of water from the Mullaperiyar dam.

December 08, 2015 05:06 pm | Updated November 16, 2021 03:58 pm IST - IDUKKI:

There was utter confusion in the downstream villages of Vallakadavu, Vandperiyar, Chappathu, Upputhara, and Ayyappancoil on Monday night as the Idukki district administration failed to alert the people in time on the release of water from the Mullaperiyar dam.

When the water level in the Periyar rose, people came out of their houses at midnight and shouted slogans against the authorities. Though a large number of policemen reached the area for an evacuation drive, the people refused to move to rescue shelters, which had already been in place.

At 5 a.m. on Tuesday the shutters were closed. It took two hours for the water released from Mullaperiyar to reach the downstream Idukki reservoir. Only 58.87 per cent of the total storage of the Idukki dam is filled and there appears to be no chance of opening the Idukki dam even if a large quantity of water is released from Mullaperiyar.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.