Shutter three of the Cheruthoni dam of the Idukki reservoir was closed on Thursday morning after the water level fell to 2,401.26 ft.
The water level at 4 p.m. was 2,401.18 ft. The shutter was opened at 6 a.m. on Tuesday after the water level crossed the orange alert level following heavy inflow in the Periyar after Tamil Nadu discharged a high volume of water and rainfall in the catchment area from Monday evening.
The shutter was closed at 8 a.m. on Thursday.
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Within two days, 8.889 mcm water was released from the Idukki reservoir, said a dam safety official. Tamil Nadu had limited the discharge to the Periyar now and the catchment area of the reservoir was also free of rainfall. The power generation at Moolamattom was at a high level, he said adding that the Indian Meteorological Department forecast was also considered before closing the shutter.
The water level in the dam continued to be at the orange alert and it was likely to fall to the blue alert level in two days unless there was heavy rainfall.
The district received high rainfall from the onset of the northeast monsoon from October 1 and the Cheruthoni dam was opened four times this year. The dam was opened on October 19 and closed on October 27 releasing 46.296 mcm of water.
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The dam was opened again on November 14 and closed on November 16 releasing 8.616 mcm of water. On November 18 it was opened and closed by November 20 . A volume of 14.465 mcm of water was released.
The residents downstream of the Mullaperiyar dam heaved a sigh of relief as there was only limited discharge from the dam since Wednesday night. It was over a week that the high volume of water released from the dam during night caused enormous misery to the people.
Tamil Nadu closed all spillway shutters but one as the water level declined to 142.75 ft at 4 p.m. on Wednesday. The water level was 141.95 ft at 4 p.m. on Thursday.