Kerala: After Cheruthoni dam, more dams opened following red alerts

Even though rains have subsided in Kerala, various dams across the state continue to discharge excess water on Monday after red alerts have been issued as the water level has breached upper rule curve

Even though rains have subsided in Kerala, various dams across the state continue to discharge excess water on Monday after red alerts have been issued in many of them as the water level has breached the upper rule curve.

The water level at Cheruthoni dam of Idukki reservoir is at 2,385.70 feet, Idukki district authorities said, adding that three shutters were raised by 80 centimetres each to discharge 150 cumecs of water.

They said it was still drizzling in the region.

The Idukki district administration had on Sunday banned all tourism-related activities owing to rains, and multiple minor landslides.

At Idamalayar dam in Idukki, the water level was at 163.04 metres while the full reservoir level was at 169.00 metres. There is intermittent moderate rain in the region.

Meanwhile, at Mullaperiyar Dam, another major dam in the state which is managed by the Tamil Nadu government, the water level is at 139 feet and six shutters have been opened by 50 cms each while four have been raised by 30 cms each.

One shutter of the Banasura Sagar dam in Wayanad was opened on Monday morning to discharge excess water, state Revenue Minister K Rajan said.

"The authorities have opened the shutter of Banasura Sagar dam by 10 cms and 8.5 cumecs per second of water is being discharged into Kabani river. We expect the water level to rise by 5 cm. Thirty-five cumecs of water will be discharged in various phases after considering the water level. Rest of the shutters will be raised if required," Rajan said.

The minister said the water level in the river will rise only in a controlled manner and there was no need to worry. However, he urged the people to remain vigilant.

A total of 22 persons lost their lives in various rain-related incidents in the state since July 31. While five people are missing, five others were injured, the State Disaster Management Authority had said.

There are 337 active relief camps where 14,611 people are accommodated. The Authority had also said that 46 houses were fully damaged while 19 suffered partial damage.