Mullaperiyar water level at 141.7 feet; one spillway shutter closed

Kumali: As the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam has come down to 141.7 feet, one of the three spillway shutters has been closed on Wednesday morning.

On Tuesday, three spillway shutters of the dam were opened after the water level touched the legally permitted 142 feet.

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy said in the Assembly yesterday that he would take up this issue with Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his Delhi visit.

The State also decided to file a petition in the Supreme Court complaining that reservoir supervisory committee had opened dam shutters and released water to Periyar river Monday night without the mandatory 12 hours prior notice to Kerala.

The chief minister said though Kerala had informed Tamil Nadu two days ago about the high inflow of water to the dam and wanted it to draw maximum water “their response was not favourable“.

“This attitude of the Tamil Nadu government in not taking into account the anxiety of Keralites was unfortunate and condemnable”, Chandy said.