Neriamangalam: The heavy downpour in the past few days has put the Lower Periyar powerhouse at Karimanal, near Neriamangalam in Ernakulam district, in danger with the floodwaters threatening to enter the area where the generators are installed.
The 180 MW powerhouse, owned by Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB), is situated below Periyar river level and it has three generators with a capacity of 60 MW each. However, the threat is not from the Periyar waters but from a small stream which came alive in the past week due to heavy rains.
The stream is flowing from a hill behind the project and the water is straight flowing into the powerhouse, posing a huge threat to the three generators. According to police sources, the KSEB authorities have chalked out a plan to divert the stream with the help of earth movers. Sources said the KSEB has called for JCBs to dig a path to divert the water.
Earlier, the KSEB had stated that nothing serious will happen to Lower Periyar dam and powerhouse if the shutters of the Idukki dam at Cheruthoni were opened.
They had claimed that the water will pass through the five sluice gates of the Lower Periyar dam once it reaches there. The officials had also said even though the powerhouse is situated below the Periyar River level, the generators were installed in such a way that it won't be submerged. The power house also has a mechanism to block the water from entering the area where the generators are placed.
However, the KSEB had never expected a situation where a new stream will emerge from the hill behind and flood the powerhouse.
When Lower Periyar was built, the engineers had anticipated an eventuality of flooding if the shutters of Mullaperiyar and Idukki dams were opened. But, a situation like a new rivulet forming and flowing into the powerhouse was not expected.
Lower Periyar, commissioned in 1997, is raised at such a point that it can check the waters from Idukki and Cheruthoni reservoirs, besides the water from Neriamangalam electricity project. The Lower Periyar dam is at Pambla and the power house is at Karimanal, near Neriamangalam. This 31-metre-high dam made of concrete has a width of 241 metres.
A tunnel channels the water from the dam to the powerhouse at Karimanal. The water level at the reservoir is regulated by raising its shutters at the start of the annual rainy season.
Earth-moving work to divert the stream is yet to start at the powerhouse.
