Two spillway shutters of the Mullaperiyar dam in Idukki district were opened on the morning of October 29 after the water level crossed 138 feet .
Spillway shutters 3 and 4 of the dam were opened by 35 cm each at 7.29 a.m., releasing 534 cusecs of water. Tamil Nadu, which maintains the dam, has reportedly informed Kerala that more water will be released if the need arises.
As per the rule curve valid till October 31, the upper rule level at the Mullaperiyar dam is 138 feet.
Kerala officials are also monitoring the water level in the Idukki reservoir which is situated downstream. A red alert has been sounded at the Idukki dam but no decision has been taken on releasing water at the moment, Minister for Water Resources Roshy Augustine said.
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Mr. Augustine, along with Minister for Revenue K. Rajan, are camping at Mullaperiyar.
High alert has been sounded along the Periyar river. As a precautionary measure, several families were evacuated from the region on the evening of October 28, but there is no cause for concern at present, the ministers said.
As part of the arrangements, the State Government had arranged 20 relief camps in the region. The State government machinery including disaster management, revenue and police, has been activated to tackle emergencies. The National Disaster Response Force is deployed in the region.
Six districts of Kerala, including Idukki, are on orange alert today (October 29) for isolated heavy to very heavy rainfall under the influence of a low pressure area which lies off the Sri Lankan coast over the southwest Bay of Bengal.
On October 28, the Supreme Court had asked Kerala and Tamil Nadu to stick to the water level set by the Supervisory Committee . The upper rule level is 139.5 feet on November 10. The Court will hear the case again on November 11.