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Mullaperiyar dam reaching full level, likely to overflow

Special Correspondent

Obstruction in pipes through which Tamil Nadu draws water

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An obstruction in the pipes through which Tamil Nadu draws water from the Mullaperiyar reservoir situated in Kerala is likely to present an unexpected bonanza to the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) this monsoon.

Following good rain in its catchments over the last few days, the reservoir is fast reaching its maximum permissible level of 136 feet. The water level had reached 131.10 feet by Friday morning.

Since the inflow is substantial at the moment (5,767 cusecs on Friday), the reservoir might start overflowing into the Kerala side in a couple of days if the problem with the pipes leading to Tamil Nadu persists. Tamil Nadu engineers are working overtime to prevent that from happening to the disadvantage of their State.

Mullaperiyar pact

Tamil Nadu is entitled to draw the entire water flowing into this reservoir for its irrigation needs, according to the Mullaperiyar pact between the two States. Tamil Nadu is also generating power using this water at a power station on its side of the inter-State border.

Kerala gets only the water overflowing from the reservoir. This happens very rarely since the Tamil Nadu engineers diligently plan the storage and diversion of water from the reservoir.

Originally, the maximum permissible level in the reservoir was 152 feet. This was brought down to 136 feet in 1979 due to fears about the safety of the lime and mortar dam, which was built more than a hundred years ago.

Despite the reduction in the level, Tamil Nadu has always managed to take optimum advantage of the inflow to the reservoir. Only on a couple of occasions during the last 26 years had the reservoir overflowed. The last time this occurred was in December 1998, when Kerala received water worth a few million units of electricity from there.

The overflow from Mullaperiyar goes straight to the reservoir of Idukki hydel project, the biggest in the State..

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