Thenmala: As summer intensifies, the water-level in the Irrigation Department’s Kallada Parappar Dam is dipping drastically. Insufficient summer rains in the catchment areas of the dam and drying up of the tributaries of the Kallada River have contributed majorly to the situation.

On Friday, the water-level of the dam stood at 98.46 m, which is far below the maximum level of 115.82 m. The level was 100.54 m on April 13. Irrigation through canals under the Kallada Irrigation Project (KIP) and electricity generation at the KSEB’s power house in the dam could be disrupted if the level falls below 95 m, said authorities.

Currently, the dam holds only 34 per cent of its total capacity of water. However, the usual volume of water is still being released from the Ottakkal check-dam to the canals on both the left and right banks after the generation of power at Kallada power house. This is yet another reason for the fall in the level of the dam, as water is being pumped at a rate of 12.47 cubic metres per second for power generation. After power generation, the water is let out into the canals at a height of 2.5 m.

Of the two generators in the pump house, only one is operational at present, and the other one is undergoing maintenance.

Despite the fall in water-level in the dam, boat and coracle rides for tourists in the Pallamvetty Lake of the reservoir under the Thenmala Ecotourism Project are taking place normally. At the same time, tourists are facing difficulties as the authorities have closed the public washrooms at Pallamvetty citing shortage of water.