Kumali
After the Supreme Court Constitution Bench raised the water level to 142 feet in May 2014, water is being released into Idukki through spillway shutters for the fourth time. After the water level reached 142 feet on December 7, 2015, water was released into Idukki through the spillway shutters, but Tamil Nadu closed the shutters within hours. In August 2018, 6.5 TMC of water was released into Idukki in nine days. Tamil Nadu has raised the spillway shutter on October 29, 2021. Water was released into Idukki several times in November and December.
The water level in Mullaperiyar was reduced to 136 feet in 1979 following the collapse of the Morvi Dam in Gujarat. After that till 2014 the water level rose and water flowed into Idukki fifteen times.
On an average, Kerala received 1.2 TMC of water every year. Later, following the judgment of the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, the water level was raised to 142 feet.
Although 12.6 TMC of water can be collected in 142 feet, it is estimated that Tamil Nadu carries four times this amount of water every year. The Supreme Court had asked Tamil Nadu to stop the water level at 139.99 during the 2018 floods. In December 2014, the water level reached 140 feet. Complaints have been raised many times in the past that Tamil Nadu is not following the rule curve set to keep the water level safe.
It is a challenge to collect rain in both places
If the rains continue in the Mullaperiyar catchments and south Tamil Nadu at the same time, more water cannot flow into Tamil Nadu. If there is a large inflow into Mullaperiyar, the only way to reduce the water level is to release the water to Idukki. Tamil Nadu can carry a maximum of 2400 cubic feet of water per second to Tamil Nadu through the tunnel. During the 2018 flood, more than a quarter of a million cubic feet of water flowed into the dam per second.
On November 30, 2017, the water level rose by 6.2 feet in a single day. In 2018, the water rose 3.9 feet in 21 hours and in 2019, 7.2 feet in 24 hours. Vaiga Dam in Theni district, which collects Mullaperiyar water at 71 feet, currently has 70 feet of water. 3432 cubic feet of water per second flowed into Vaiga while 2656 cubic feet per second flowed out. Even though the Vaiga catchment has received an average of less than four millimeters of rain every day for a week, the water level in the dam rose as Mullaperiyar collected water.
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