The shutters of the Banasura Sagar reservoir of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) at Padinharethara in the district were lifted further on Thursday owing to the heavy inflow of water from the catchment areas of the reservoir.
“As much as 246 cubic metre water per second (2,46,000 litre a second) is discharging through the spillway when the shutters were opened by 290 cm,” P. Manoharan, Assistant Executive Engineer, Banasura Sagar, told The Hindu.
Four shutters of the reservoir were opened up to 250 cm on Wednesday owing to the copious rainfall in the catchment area of the reservoir that spreads over 1,277 hectares, Mr. Manoharan said. A tunnel to the Kakkayam reservoir from this reservoir had also been opened to discharge excess water. The excess water is discharging through the Karamanthodu river, a tributary of the Kabani river.
Following the incessant rain, water levels of major rivers in the district, including the Panamaram, Mananthavadi, Kalindhi, Nugu, and Kalakkan rivers are continuing to rise. The district received 2,632.67 mm of rainfall from May 28 to August 9 this year, as against the 999.02 mm during the corresponding period last year.
Beechanahalli reservoir
An average of 245.37 mm of rainfall was recorded on Thursday alone.
Meanwhile, the shutters of the Beechanahalli reservoir across the Kabani river in Karnataka lifted further to avoid flood-like situation in Wayanad as per the request of the district administration.
