Three of the four shutters of the Banasura Sagar reservoir of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) at Padinharethara in the district were lifted further on Monday owing to the heavy inflow of water from the catchment areas of the reservoir.
“The shutters were raised to 150 cm from 90 cm on Monday evening owing to the copious rainfall in the catchment area since Sunday night,” dam safety officials said. A shutter of the reservoir was lifted on July 16 evening when the water level in the reservoir, the full reservoir level of which is 775.6 metres, crossed 775.4 metres. The four shutters of the dam were opened on August 8 when the inflow of water increased to nearly 10% of the capacity of the reservoir. The shutters were opened 290 cm that day.
Dam safety officials directed people living on the banks of the Panamaram river to be alert. Two landslips were reported at Kambamala in the district on Sunday night and crops on nearly 25 hectares were destroyed. No casualties were reported, disaster control room sources said.
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Relief, rescue, and rehabilitation operations by Army, Navy and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel are under way in various parts of the district, including Kambamala.
Holiday today
District Collector A.R. Ajayakumar has declared a holiday for all educational institutions, including professional colleges, in the district on Tuesday in the wake of the heavy rain.
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