Mullaperiyar dam, which has been at the centre of a decade-long dispute between Kerala and Tamil Nadu over the safety of the structure, reached a safe level of 142 feet on Tuesday morning. According to the Central Water Commission, which acted on an interim order imposed by the Supreme Court, the water level had been raised to 142 feet despite objections from Kerala, which had been pressing for a reduction to 136 feet.
As the water level rose, Tamil Nadu opened seven shutters of the spillway. This released 2944.31 cubic feet per second of water into the River Periyar, which will flow to the Idukki reservoir 35 km downstream. With heavy rains continuing in Kerala, the water level at Idukki reservoir has already reached 2400 feet (97 percent of live storage). Idukki district administration has issued an alert to residents along the banks of the river Periyar, as Tamil Nadu is releasing water from Mullaperiyar dam.
Before 1979, Tamil Nadu maintained 152 feet of water storage at the dam. The water level was reduced to 142 feet after Kerala raised concerns about the structure’s safety. Following the completion of the emergency and medium-term measures to strengthen the dam, which is a lifeline for five districts of Tamil Nadu, the water level at the dam was determined to be 145 ft. Later, the water level was lowered to 136 feet as Kerala claimed the dam threatened thousands of people living downstream.
As a result of decades of legal battles over the safety of the dam, the Supreme Court in 2014 allowed Tamil Nadu to raise the water level from 136 feet to 142 feet. The dam’s water level reached 142 feet during the Kerala floods of August 2018, forcing Tamil Nadu to discharge more water into the already overflowing Idukki reservoir. This contributed to flooding in the central Kerala region. Kerala has been demanding that the maximum permissible level be brought down below 142 feet since then.
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Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that the dam’s rule curve should be maintained as set by the Central Water Commission. Tamil Nadu has therefore been granted permission to raise the water level to 142 feet. From the deepest foundation of the dam, the height is 176 feet, while the full reservoir level is 152 feet. A spillway crest at 136 feet is located at the dam’s deepest foundation. According to documents, the dam’s water level reached 154.80 feet on January 3, 1943.
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