IDUKKI: The water level in Mullaperiyar dam went up by more than one feet on Monday evening as the inflow to the dam increased due to heavy rain in catchment areas. The water level recorded in the dam on Monday was 134 ft.
As the northeast monsoon has set in Kerala after a brief lull, the catchment areas of major dams in Idukki are receiving fairly good rainfall, which has helped increase the inflow since Saturday. The water level in Mullaperiyar dam stood at 132 ft at 6 am on Saturday with an inflow of 3,474.28 cusecs and the storage that was 10,257 mcft on Saturday went up to 10,444.20 mcft on Sunday.
There was a spurt in the inflow of water to the dam on Monday, which went up to 3,745.95 cusecs, and the heavy inflow resulted in the water level going up to 134 ft.
Discharge from the dam, which had been 1,850 cusecs on Saturday, was enhanced to 1,960 cusecs on Monday morning, out of which 1,400 cusecs of water was via penstock pipes and 500 cusecs via Erachil Palam, according to PWD sources in Tamil Nadu. The catchment areas of Periyar received 12 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours and Thekkady received 10 mm rainfall.
Peerumade taluk in Idukki received the most rainfall on Sunday (60 mm). Meanwhile, the day remained cloudy and cool in Kumily on Monday and there was light drizzling in many parts of Idukki in the evening.
On Sunday and Saturday nights, Kumily and nearby areas received heavy showers, which flooded rivers and rivulets and forced people to evacuate their houses.
Traffic on the Kumily-Cumbum route was blocked on Monday after a major landslip occured near the highway between Kumily and Lower Camp on Sunday night.
A blockade was held on the Kottarakkara-Dindigul NH near Kumily on Monday, demanding the authorities to allow at least two-wheelers to pass through the route, in which hundreds of people from Cumbum, Gudalur and Lower Camp areas took part. However, the police arrested the protesters and removed them.