The catchment area of Idukki reservoir received the second highest rainfall in its history during the past 24 hours on Monday, with 3 ft rise in water level.
An official of the Dam Monitoring and Research Station, Vazhathoppe, told The Hindu that the rainfall in the catchment area was 153.4 mm. The water level on Monday was 2,371.28 ft. It was 65.25% of the total reservoir level. “There was only 20.87% of water in the dam on the same day last year”, the official said adding that last year’s water level was 2,316.90 ft.
Water level was also at the second highest level of the season. On July 16, 1985, it had reached the highest level of 2,371.70 ft. Power generation at the Moolamattom Power House was 2.065 mu. Power generation continued to remain at a low, the official said.
There was heavy inflow of water through the main tributary, the Periyar.
Mullaperiyar dam
Water level in Mullaperiyar dam increased nearly 2 ft to reach 129.2 ft on Monday. For the past three days, the water level had been increasing at a level of 2 ft per day.
Almost all the small dams in the district were full and the shutters of a few dams were opened to release the water. The Kerala State Electricity Board has issued an alert to the people living in the downstream areas to take precautionary measures.
Munnar recorded the highest rainfall of 240 mm during the past 24 hours.
An official of the District Disaster Management Cell said Devikulam taluk received the highest rainfall of 202 ft on Monday, followed by Peerumade taluk with 189 mm, Idukki taluk, 153.4 mm and Thodupuzhan taluk, 150.7 mm. Udumbanchola recorded the lowest rainfall of 89.4 mm.
