This story is from October 19, 2021

Kerala: Idukki, Idamalayar dams to spill 100 cubic metre per second water from today

Shutters of Idamalayar and Idukki dams would be lifted marginally at 6am and 11am respectively, on Tuesday. KSEB authorities here on Monday said the decision to drain 100cumecs (cubic metre per second) water from the dams was on a precautionary note in view of heavy rain forecast for three days from Wednesday.
Kerala: Idukki, Idamalayar dams to spill 100 cubic metre per second water from today
Minister Roshy Augustine along with other offcials visit the Idukki dam on Monday
THIRUVANATHAPURAM/IDUKKI: Shutters of Idamalayar and Idukki dams would be lifted marginally at 6am and 11am respectively, on Tuesday. KSEB authorities here on Monday said the decision to drain 100cumecs (cubic metre per second) water from the dams was on a precautionary note in view of heavy rain forecast for three days from Wednesday.
“The dams shutters are being lifted marginally to make room for more water inflow into the reservoir, in case of heavy rains in the coming days,” said B Ashok, KSEB chairman and managing director.
The flow of water from the dams was 2,500cumecs during the 2018 floods. In comparison, the outflow from the dams would be very small this time, he noted.
The water storage level in Idukki and Idamalayar dams is 93.4% and 90.15% as on Monday evening. “This means that Idukki dam can contain 1,363.86MCM more water before it reaches the full reservoir level. Similarly, Idamalayar dam can hold 917.56MCM more water before the water level in the reservoir touches the FRL level,” Ashok added.
Idukki and Idamalayar dams are currently on orange alert and Kakki dam is already spilling. The board officials said there could be changes in the schedule of operation of the dam shutters in case of any unexpected emergencies. “As per the current plans, people could be given enough time to move away from the banks downstream of dams,” KSEB officials said.
Pathanamthitta district administration has been given the mandate to decide when to lift the Pamba dam shutters scheduled on Tuesday.
According to officials, the catchment areas of Idukki and Idamalayar dams have been receiving very heavy rains. “The rains in catchment areas on October 16 and 17 were the highest in the last 50 years,” they said. The water level in Idukki reservoir showed a sudden rise of 4.24ft within a day on Saturday and it was behind the sudden decision of officials to open the shutters of Idukki reservoir. KSEB chief engineer (dam safety and DRIP) Supriya S told TOI that three shutters of Cheruthoni reservoir will be opened 35cm each on Tuesday morning at 11am.
KSEB officials said around 4.5 lakh electricity connections were affected and most have been restored. As on Monday, 45,000 connections are yet to be restored. The loss to KSEB was assessed at Rs 17.54 crore on Monday. Power connections in several areas have been switched off to avert more disasters.
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