As monsoon has commenced in Kerala, the sub-supervisory committee undertook an inspection at Mullaperiyar dam of its safety and precautionary measures to be taken on Wednesday. The committee inspected the safety of the main dam, baby dam and gallery area, storage level, inflow, outflow, seepage and shutter operation.
Water level in Mullaperiyar dam has been a bone of contention between Tamil Nadu and Kerala, as the dam, though located in Idukki district of Kerala, happens to be the lifeline of five southern districts of Tamil Nadu. In 2014, the Supreme Court passed an order allowing water storage up to a maximum level of 142 feet, and constituted a supervisory committee, under which a sub-committee was also set up to periodically conduct inspections at the dam.
The committee comprises two Tamil Nadu officials, Subramani, Executive Engineer, and Sam Irwin, Assistant Executive Engineer; two Kerala officials, Arun K. Jacob, Executive Engineer, and Praseeth, Assistant Executive Engineer; and Saravanan from the Central Water Commission. Tamil Nadu officials took ‘Kannagi boat ferry’ from Thekkadi boat jetty to reach the dam.
Water level in the dam stood at 112.45 feet on Wednesday, as against 112.80 feet recorded in April, when the last inspection was carried out.
The sub-committee held discussions after the inspection and concluded that the discharge of 22.66 litres of water per minute from the gallery area meant that the dam was safe; the shutters were in good working condition; and the sub-committee could conduct the next level inspection if the monsoon intensified, increasing the inflow to the dam
The report of the inspection will be submitted to the three-member supervisory committee chairman Gulshan Raj.
