The water level in the Idukki reservoir rose on Wednesday following the trial stopping of one of the six generators at the Moolamattom power house. The water level reached 2,400.44 ft at 5 p.m.
An official of the Dam Monitoring and Research Station said it was unusual for the power plant to operate all the generators for maximum power generation during the rainy season. The dam was mainly reserved for power generation during the summer season, when demand escalated.
He said, however, due to the persistent spell of rainfall, all generators were being operated for maximum power generation. It was during the rainy season, the annual maintenance works of generators were done. “One of the generators was not operated on Wednesday and it would be back to normal in two days,” he said.
The fall in tunnel discharge mainly led to the increase in the water level, he said adding that dam safety officials were monitoring the situation. There was a wide gap to the upper rule level now as the present level was at blue alert. However, considering the chances of rainfall and inflow through the Periyar, the Cheruthoni dam could be opened to regulate the water level. He said a decision would be taken by the rule committee at Thiruvananthapuram.
As the inflow into the Mullaperiyar dam declined, Tamil Nadu officials on Wednesday closed six of the seven spillway shutters that were opened on Tuesday. Only one was kept raised to 10 cm. Following heavy inflow, the spillway shutters were opened on Tuesday night releasing around 4,000 cusecs to the Periyar.
On Wednesday morning, the water level at Mullaperiyar declined to 141.45 ft. The water level at 5 p.m. was 141.35 ft and the tunnel discharge was 2,300 cusecs and the water release to the Periyar was 136 cusecs. The average inflow into the dam at 5 p.m. was 2,271 cusecs. The upper rule level is 142 ft.
As per the rule curve for the Idukki reservoir, the orange alert level is at 2,401 ft, red alert level at 2,402 ft, and the upper rule level at 2,403 ft.
A Kerala State Electricity Board official said following water release from Mullaperiyar, the water level in the Idukki dam rose by 0.14 ft in a day. The water level may fall in two days if there was no heavy rainfall.
