The two shutters of the Mullaperiyar dam was opened on Friday morning. The first spillway shutter was opened at about 7.30 am after which the second shutter too was raised. The two shutters namely 3 and 4 was raised by 35 cms. The dam has a total of 13 spillways.
People living downstream of Mullaperiyar dam were evacuated on Thursday as a measure of caution ahead of Tamil Nadu raising its shutters.
Water released from the Mullaperiyar dam will move through Manjumala, Vandiperiyar, Mamala, Shanthippalam, Chappath, Aalady, Upputhara and Ayyappankovil to join Idukki reservoir.
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.
Mullaperiyar dam, built in 1895 on Periyar river in Idukki district of Kerala, is operated by the Tamil Nadu government for its irrigation and power generation needs. Kerala is insisting on building a new dam, citing safety concerns, but Tamil Nadu is against it, saying the present structure was strong.
(With inputs from ANI)
