Kerala rains: Cheruthoni Dam shutters opened after 26 years

Authorities monitoring the dam recorded an increase of 2 ft in water level for the past 24 hours.

With the water level rising at more than 0.10 ft per hour, shutters of the Cheruthoni dam will be opened on Friday and water will be released to Priyar river. (EPS | Ramesh Sivan)

IDUKKI: One of the five shutters of the Cheruthoni Dam, which is part of the Idukki reservoir project, was opened at 12.30 pm on Thursday after water level inched near to the red alert level of 2,399 ft. The shutter of the dam is being opened after 26 years. The maximum storage level of the dam is 2403 ft.
One of the five shutters, which is situated on the centre of the dam, has been lifted up by 50 cm for the trial run. At present, the water discharge is at 50 cumecs (50,000 litre per second).

Though it was earlier decided to end the trial run at 4.30 pm, with water flow increasing it has been decided to continue in the night.Warnings to those living on the banks of the Periyar have also been issued by the District Disaster Management Authorities (DDMA) and preparations are underway to rehabilitate 40 families, who are residing in the downstream, initially.

With the water level rising at more than 0.10 ft per hour, shutters of the Cheruthoni dam will be opened on Friday and water will be released to Priyar river. KSEB has also issued a red alert. Authorities monitoring the dam recorded an increase of 2 ft in water level for the past 24 hours. “And if the situation continues, the other shutters will also have to be opened without much delay,” an officer said

The opening of the shutters of Idamalyar dam has already resulted in rising water level in the Periyar river. With the opening of Idukki dam, the water level is expected to increase further. Residents living near the dam had been alerted that water levels of the Periyar would increase by 1.5 metres. Water from the dam is expected to reach Aluva within the next 5-6 hours.

The Mullaperiyar dam too has been filling up fast due to heavy rains with the water level currently touching 133.6 feet. The shutters of the dam were last opened in 1992, however, it was during the north east monsoon. This is for the first time that the dam water is being released during south west monsoon.