IDUKKI: Taking into consideration the heavy rainfall prediction, the Idukki district administration on Saturday morning opened one of the shutters of the Cheruthoni dam. It is for the first time in the history, the Idukki dam was opened for the second time in two months. The shutter opened when the water level reached 2387.92 feet.
“One shutter of the dam has been opened and 50 cumecs (cubic metre per second) of water is being released from the dam now,” said an officer with the Dam Safety Authority.
The district administration authorities on Friday had warned the people residing near the dam to take necessary precautions. Besides, a high-level meeting was called by Idukki District Collector K Jeevan Babu to decide when the shutters would be opened.
“The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy rain in the state on Saturday and Sunday and we expect heavy inflow to the dam in the coming days. The full reservoir level of the dam is 2403 feet. But to control the water level in the dam, we decided to open the shutters," the officer said.
Meanwhile, Roshi Augustine MLA alleged that the dam was opened without issuing proper alert to the people. "The dam shutters should be opened only after 12 hours when an alert is issued. The public was unaware about the opening of the dam on 11 am on Friday", he told mediapersons on Saturday adding that severe lapses happened in conducting announcement regarding this.
However, District Collector Jeevan Babu K said that there were no such issues. "The dam was opened after communications with Electricity Minister and KSEB chairman. Right now, it could not say that the shutter would be opened till how many days", he added.
The shutters of dam were opened on August 9 when the water level reached 2400 feet following the heavy rains. After the rains subsided, it was closed in September.