Electricity Minister M.M. Mani has said that a trial run will be held when the water level in the Idukki dam reaches 2,398 ft.
Talking to mediapersons after a high-level meeting of officials at the Collectorate in Painavu on Thursday, Mr. Mani said people living downstream of the dam would be alerted when the water level reached 2,397 ft and a trial run would be held at 2,398 ft, he said.
Mr. Mani said the monsoon season had not ended and the water level usually reached the maximum during the northeast monsoon. A decision on opening the dam was taken in consideration of that too, he said adding the trial run would be held even if the rainfall declined. The trial run would help the people to familiarise themselves with adequate precautionary steps. He said all security arrangements had been taken.
The last opening of the dam was during the northeast monsoon season and the water level had touched 2,401 ft then. In the present situation, there was no point in waiting for water to reach that level. The Cabinet decision was to wait till Saturday to see if the water level was steadily increasing.
He said all the five shutters would not be opened at one go. The central shutter would be opened first on a small scale and the other shutters would be lifted in different phases.
Top officials of the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) argued that as the inflow had considerably fallen, there was no need to open the dam now. A large volume of water that could be used for power generation would be wasted. Officials of the Dam Safety Authority, however, said that in view of safety aspects, the dam should be opened before the water level reached 2,400 ft.
2,396.16 ft
The water level on Thursday was 2,396.16 ft. The rainfall in the catchment area recorded during the 24 hours ending Thursday morning was 5.6 m.m.
Meanwhile, the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam fell to 135.35 ft on Thursday, owing to decline in rainfall and more water being taken to Tamil Nadu. On Wednesday, the level was 135.4 ft.
