The opening of shutters of Cheruthoni dam may impact 324 houses that are located a few metres away from Cheruthoni river and upset the lives of hundreds of residents.
Of this, 24 houses are critically located at a distance of 10 m from the riverbank, which will bear the brunt of the water most when shutters are raised. A complete evacuation from these houses would have to be carried out to avert fatalities, disaster management experts said.
Most of the vulnerable homes are located at a distance of 50-75 m from the riverbank and have 881 persons, including infants, as residents. Over 170 buildings that have come up at this risk zone of the river will also be flooded if huge volumes of water come down the shutters at a high speed.
The data on the families that have anchored their lives and constructed their houses and buildings at the vulnerable distance was drawn up by the disaster management authorities.
The impact of lifting of shutters would depend on the volume of water that would be released. The released water would take approximately an hour to cover a distance of 42 km and reach the neighbouring district of Ernakulam. The impact of release would be felt in the Idukki, Thankamany, Upputhode, Vathikudy, Kanjikuzhy and Konnathady villages, sources said.
It was in 1992, that water was released from the dam last when the water level in the reservoir reached dangerous levels. The shutters of the dam will have to be lifted in the event of water level reaching the maximum limit of 2,400 ft.
