Though the heavy rain, which lashed the district, came as a relief to those reeling under water shortage, the water level in the Idukki dam remained precariously low on Tuesday.
The total amount of rainfall recorded during the last 24 hours was 46 mm. The water level in the dam stood at 2,326.5 ft against its full reservoir level at 2,403 ft, official sources said. The dam’s power generation level begins at 2,280 ft, which is the minimum draw down level. The water below this level cannot be used for power generation owing to the presence of silt and slush.
The water present in the dam is just 27 per cent of its capacity of the reservoir. Large quantity of water was released from the dam last year during the height of Mullaperiyar tension to enable it to withstand the surge of water coming from Mullaperiyar dam in case of any eventuality.