Idukki: The water seepage through two galleries of the baby dam of the Mullaperiyar reservoir is increasing day by day, reveals the data given to Kerala by the Tamil Nadu Government.
When the water level is at 142 feet, the quantity of leak through the galleries is 185 litres of water per minute. When the water level gets reduced to 136 feet, the leak drops to 137-188 litres per minute.
The Mullaperiyar Dam comprises the 152-foot-high and 1,200-foot-long main dam, a baby dam of 240 ft x 115 ft, and an earth dam 240 ft x 20 ft.
Monitoring panel keeps off
The Supreme Court-appointed monitoring committee is yet to visit the dam site. Nor did it inspect the main dam after the water level reached 142-feet a few times in the recent past.
It is alleged that the Kerala Government or the state representative of Kerala in the monitoring committee failed to impress upon the panel on the need to visit the dam site to take stock of the problem at first hand.
The officials of the Water Resources Department from Kerala first brought to the attention of the higher officials the seriousness of the leakage after an inspection at the dam. The leakage at the baby dam could was found a few days ago, as the rainy season ended.
TN's stand
The Tamil Nadu Government's position is that the inflow of water into the dam got considerably reduced after the end of the rainy season and there is no threat to the baby dam now.
The water leaks both at a height of 10 ft and 45 ft from the bottom of the dam are measured for the purpose of preparing seepage data.
On Tuesday, the water level in the Mullaperiyar Dam stood at 140.9 ft. About 600 cubic feet of water is being taken by Tamil Nadu for power generation. Compared to the last many years, only one-fourth of water is diverted by Tamil Nadu to its side now.
The data with regard to water leak through galleries has been handed over to Kerala by Tamil Nadu. But neither Tamil Nadu or the monitoring committee is not uttering a word on the issue. As per the Supreme Court ruling the monitoring committee should visit the dam, review the situation and then take necessary security safeguards whenever the water level rises. But such a fiat has been given scant regard by the monitoring panel.
Instead of visiting the dam and then holding the meeting to review the situation, the monitoring committee convened an online meeting. The general feeling is that the online meetings were deliberately convened in order to give an impression that the leakage is not that serious.
TN team, visits baby dam
A delegation from the Tamil Nadu Government visited the Mullaperiyar dam as the spurt in water leak was reported the other day.
A team led by the representative of the Theni District Collector and the District Irrigation Department chief visited the dam site and reviewed the situation. The details of the visit were not divulged by the Tamil Nadu Government.
Since the bottom of the baby dam is buried with sludge, the TN team could not conduct on the spot study.
