A team of experts from the Kerala Engineering Research Institute (KERI) has reached Kumily to examine the possibility of demolishing the structure of the Mullaperiyar dam.
The team will begin the tests on Thursday, said an Irrigation Department official.
The team is visiting the site following a proposal to this effect put forward by the Mullaperiyar Special Cell chairman M.K. Parameswaran Nair. It would examine the quantity of silt-up accumulated in front of the main dam structure, baby dam and the spillway. The team would also study the extent of cutting needed for the spillway inside the dam to channelise the water, the official said.
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The Mullaperiyar Special Cell team that visited the site on Sunday said there were two options for limiting the water level to 94 ft from the total capacity of 136 ft. Either the baby dam has to be demolished or a channel has to be opened from the spillway to carry the water. The Mullaperiyar Special Cell team visited the site after the Supreme Court asked the State how it would demolish the structure in case the dam was to be decommissioned.
Reports reaching here said a team from the Central Water and Power Research Station, (CWPRS) Pune, would also reach Kumily on Thursday to conduct a test on the cable anchor of the dam.
Mohanasundaram, Tamil Nadu Public Works Department superintending engineer, visited the dam in connection with the team's visit. It is also reliably learnt that a team of scientists from the CWPRS would visit the site to survey the quantity of silt in the dam.
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The CWPRS would begin the test on the cable anchor on September 17. Sources in the Irrigation Department said Kerala had not received any information on the arrival of the CWPRS team.
However, the official said the Tamil Nadu Public Works Department had officially communicated the arrival of the CWPRS team to the Mullaperiyar Special Cell and the Irrigation Department.