Thodupuzha: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan convened an emergency meeting in the capital on Wednesday to tackle the disastrous situation in the state caused by torrential rains.
The CM will call up his Tamil Nadu counterpart asking him to take urgent steps to reduce water in Mullaperiyar dam the reservoir level of which is quickly inching up to the 142 feet mark.
The officials had complained that Tamil Nadu was not drawing enough water despite repeated requests.
At Mullaperiyar, the water level is going up every second. While the inflow is 40, 000 litres per second, the outflow if less than 16, 000 litres a second.
As many as 4, 000 families were moved to relief camps last night anticipating the lifting of shutters of Mullaperiyar.
The shutters of the dam were opened at 2.30 am on Wednesday. An alert has been issues to those living along the banks of Periyar river.
The Tamil Nadu government opened 13 shutters of the Mullaperiyar dam by 1 feet to release 4, 489 cusecs of water.
The Mullaperiyar dam is managed by the Tamil Nadu government. The Tamil Nadu disaster management commissioner had conveyed the possibility of opening the dam to its Kerala counterpart after the inflow reached a rate of 11,500 cubic feet per second. The released water will gush into the Idukki reservoir through Chappath.
The government has begun steps to relocate 1,250 families from the trajectory of the water. About 4,000 people will be sent to the relief camps.
People residing nearby Periyar river in Ernakulam, Idukki and Thrissur districts have been asked to stay alert. Water level at the Mullaperiyar dam reached 141.2 feet at 8.00am on Wednesday. The full reservoir level of Mullaperiyar is 142 feet.
The Kerala State Disaster Management Authority (KSDMA) has also decided to release more water from Cheruthoni dam, which is part of the Idukki reservoir.