THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala has raised concern about Tamil Nadu opening Mullaperiyar dam shutters without sufficient warning on Wednesday night and Thursday early morning.
In a letter to TN chief minister MK Stalin on Thursday, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan invited his attention to the anxiety and apprehensions of people living downstream of Mullaperiyar.
Pinarayi urged his TN counterpart to issue a necessary directive to officials that opening shutters should be done only after sufficient warning, and during the daytime. The Kerala CM reiterated that the state has been of the opinion that TN should get adequate water while the safety of people in Kerala should be ensured.
The chief minister said shutters VI to V8 of the dam were opened at 3 am on Thursday. "Sufficient warning was not given before substantial discharging of 6413 cusecs which was subsequently increased to 8017 cusecs at 4 am by opening all the 10 shutters," he said.
On November 30, the chief secretary had alerted his TN counterpart about high water levels in the downstream areas like Vandiperiyar and the anxiety experienced by people. Shutter release at the rate of around 5700 cusecs has been the cause of flooding and inundation of houses.
"The release of water has a to be planned, gradual and only during that time after giving adequate warning to the people in the downstream area. The discharge of water in the night and early morning without prior warning creates avoidable panic and risk," said Pinarayi while seeking the TN chief minister's urgent intervention in the matter.
Earlier in the day water Resources minister, Roshy Augustine had come out against TN for opening dam shutters without warning. The sudden action had created difficulties for many people living downstream who had to move to other places after water gushed to their houses.