Make space for more water in Mullaperiyar dam: Supreme Court

PWD Secretary Sandeep Saxena and Cauvery Technical Cell’s chairman, R Subramanian, represented Tamil Nadu in the meeting which lasted about 75 minutes.
Make space for more water in Mullaperiyar dam: Supreme Court

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM/CHENNAI: A day after the Supreme Court directed Kerala and Tamil Nadu to interact responsibly with one another and the supervisory committee on the maximum water level at the Mullaiperiyar dam, officials from both States held talks in this regard on Tuesday.

PWD Secretary Sandeep Saxena and Cauvery Technical Cell’s chairman, R Subramanian, represented Tamil Nadu in the meeting which lasted about 75 minutes. However, officials declined to reveal the details of the meeting, saying the information would be submitted before the apex court on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Kerala Water Resources Minister, Roshy Augustine, told TNIE the State had asked Tamil Nadu to draw maximum water (2,700 cusecs) from the Mullaiperiyar dam in order to store more if it rains heavily in the coming days. “The members of the Supreme Court-appointed supervisory committee, who attended the meeting, also directed Tamil Nadu to draw maximum water,” he said.

The water level in the dam has crossed 137.5 feet while the maximum level set by the Central Water Commission for the month is 138 feet. The Met department has forecast heavy rain triggered by a low pressure that is expected to form over the Bay of Bengal and a cyclonic circulation over the Arabian Sea. Augustine said in case the dam spillways are opened, Kerala is equipped to tackle the situation. The minister allayed the fears of people living downstream.

“The State recently raised shutters of the Idukki dam to maintain the water level at 2,395 ft against the maximum capacity of 2,403.5 ft. This will allow Idukki dam to store excess water released from Mullaiperiyar if its spillways are opened,” he said.

Kerala had on Sunday urged Tamil Nadu to draw maximum water from the dam into its Vaigai dam as the water level had reached 136 ft. On Monday, petitioners from the State moved the apex court on the issue. Tamil Nadu’s counsel argued to the court that it is entitled to store water up to 142 ft, based on two earlier Supreme Court orders.

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