With summer showers steadily improving the water level at the Peppara dam, the stop-gap arrangement to supply water from Kappukadu at the Neyyar dam is likely to be discontinued in a few days, according to Kerala Water Authority (KWA) officials.
Concerns that the fall in the water level at the Neyyar dam would lead to a fresh crisis were dispelled by authorities, who said that the decline had been anticipated before the pumping began.
The water level at Peppara has increased by around 1.3 metres over the past three to four weeks, to a total of 89.90 metres now. This will suffice to meet the needs of the city until June 10, a KWA official said.
The Neyyar dam, which had a water level of 74.3 metres when the pumping began last month, had 72.2 metres as on Saturday. The dam’s maximum capacity is 84.75 metres.
According to the official, the pumps are being laid at a 2-metre depth in the first stage. It could be extended up to six metres. Hence, in the event of a delayed monsoon, the pumping from Neyyar could be taken up again, he said.
While the original plan had been to extend the pumps to a greater depth after a two-metre decline, this was rendered unnecessary by the rise in water level at Peppara, the official said. In this light, the pumping was drastically reduced on Friday to 25 million litres per day from the earlier 120 mld. Around 270 mld is being supplied from the Aruvikkara reservoir now.
