COIMBATORE: Over 20,000 cusecs (cubic foot per second) of water flowed out of the Parambikulam dam in Kerala’s Palakkad district as one of its three shutters, established in 1967, got damaged late Tuesday, causing panic.
The shutter was washed away after a 35-tonne counterweight used to operate it fell and crushed it, sources said. By Wednesday evening, the water flow had reduced to 16,500 cusecs. “It was an unexpected incident. As far as I know, there has been no such tragedy so far,” said Tamil Nadu Water Resources Minister Durai Murugan after visiting the dam.
“We estimate that 6 TMC ft (thousand million cubic feet) of water would have flowed into the Chalakudy river through Peringalkuthu dam in Kerala in a week, against 17.8 TMC stored in Parambikulam dam after the shutter collapsed,” he added.
A senior Water Resources department official said it would take a week for the water to recede so that restoration work can begin. Though the dam is in Kerala, Tamil Nadu’s Water Resources department maintains it under the Parambikulam Aliyar Project (PAP) as per an agreement with Kerala.
After the incident, Coimbatore Collector GS Sameeran camped near the dam and contacted the Collectors of Palakkad and Thrissur to prevent flood-related damage. “There is no disaster-like situation in Palakkad or Thrissur districts since the water flow is within the river’s capacity.
A flood alert has already been issued in both districts. Along with the Tamil Nadu officials, an expert team from the engineering department in Chennai will work on the dam once the water level recedes,” Sameeran said.
Durai Murugan said he would order for shutters of dams across the State to be checked. Replying to a query on whether officials from Kerala are cooperating, he said both Tamil Nadu and Kerala should work together on inter-State water-sharing issues.
‘We have been maintaining a flood cushion’
Based on the PAP agreement, TN supplies 19.55 TMC of water to Kerala through Sholayar dam in Valparai (12.3 TMC) and Aliyar dam near Pollachi (7.25 TMC). “Based on a request from Kerala, we have been maintaining a flood cushion and releasing water in phases during the monsoon.
Water from Parambikulam dam is supplied to fill Aliyar and Tirumurthy dam via Thunakkadavu dam for irrigation. Hence, there is no interruption in supply to agricultural fields on 95,000 acres in Tiruppur district,” said a senior PWD official.