Shutters of Mullaperiyar, Idukki dams opened following heavy inflow of water

Mullaperiyar dam. File photo

Thodupuzha: Two shutters of the Mullaperiyar Dam were raised at 8am on Thursday as the water level neared the permissible limit of 141 feet. A warning has been issued to the residents of neighbouring areas and people downstream ahead of the release of the impounded water.

The 3rd and 4th shutters of the dam were raised by 30 centimetres on Thursday, releasing 22,000 litres of water per second.

One shutter of the Cheruthoni Dam, which is part of the Idukki reservoir, was lifted by 10 am. The shutter was raised by 40 cm to release 40,000 litres of water per second. The shutters of this dam have been already opened three times this year, a first for it.

Last month too water was released from the Mullaperiyar Dam in the wake of heavy rains.

The water level of the Idukki reservoir is currently 2,399.38 ft. The Idukki-Kallar dam shutters were opened on Wednesday night.

A volume of 10,000 litre per second is flowing out from the dam.

Heavy rainfall likely

After a brief respite on Wednesday, the downpour is expected to pick up pace on Thursday and Friday in Kerala, the Met Department has warned. Heavy rains are expected to continue to till November 20.

Anticipating heavy rainfall across the state, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a Yellow Alert in nine districts. The districts are Kottayam, Idukki, Pathanamthitta, Ernakulam, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, Kozhikode and Wayanad.

Yellow alert has been issued for Pathanamthitta, Kottayam, Idukki, Ernakulam, Palakkad, and Malappuram districts for Friday. 

A yellow alert warns of rainfall ranging from 64.5mm to 115 mm.

The westerly winds blowing over Kerala has weakened following the movement of the low-pressure formation in the Arabian Sea towards the Karnataka-Goa coast. The low-pressure formation in the Bay of Bengal is expected to make landfall in Tamil Nadu-Andhra coast on Friday.

There are no restrictions for fishing along Kerala, Karnataka and Lakshadweep coasts.

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