THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday wrote to his Tamil Nadu counterpart Edappadi Palaniswami seeking his intervention to reduce the water level in the Mullaperiyar Dam in Idukki district to 139 feet.
Vijayan said that the Tamil Nadu engineers in charge of the dam were not cooperating with Kerala in this matter. The catchment areas of the dam were continuing to receive heavy rainfall. The water level in the dam, which is now at 142 feet, has to be regulated taking into account the safety of the structure.
Moreover, the abrupt release of water from the 142-level mark would lead to large-scale destruction in the downstream areas.
With the flood situation in the state worsening, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Wednesday spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh seeking the centre's assistance in tackling the crisis.
Many of the rivers have overflowed across the banks and whole villages have been isolated, the Chief Minister informed them, seeking their intervention for the deployment of more armed forces, NDRF and army engineering corps personnel in the state. According to the Chief Minister, the Centre has responded favourably to this request. The Chief Minister also requested more helicopters and dinghy boats for carrying out flood relief operations. He requested the Union Home Minister to urge Tamil Nadu to help reduce the water level from the present 142 feet to 139 feet by drawing more water.
The Chief Minister said that the Union Cabinet Secretary had taken up the matter with the Tamil Nadu Chief Secretary.
Later, the Chief Minister also called on Governor P Sathasivam and apprised him of the situation in the state.