Idukki: The Idukki district administration on Sunday banned all tourism-related activities here until further notice due to landslips reported in the district following heavy rains. The District Collector made the announcement and has directed the district police chief, the regional transport officer and other officials to take necessary steps including at areas bordering the district to ensure that tourism activities are suspended.
Authorities noted that due to recent rains, landslides were reported in the district and continuing tourist inflow may result in more accidents. One of the five shutters of the Cheruthoni dam of Idukki reservoir was raised by 70 centimetres this morning to discharge 50 cumecs of water. "As it is still raining in the catchment area of the dam and the water from the spillway of Mullaperiyar was reaching the reservoir. Two more shutters have been opened in the evening in order to discharge 100 cumecs of excess water from the dam," district authorities said.
A red alert in Idukki dam was issued after the water rose above 2,382.53 feet. The current water level at the dam was 2384.46 feet, which is 84.5 percent of its storage capacity. The Idukki reservoir consists of two dams, the Arch dam and the Cheruthoni dam. The shutters of Cheruthoni dam were opened for the first time in 26 years in 2018, to mitigate the worst flood faced by the state in a century. This is the eight time the shutter has been raised.
Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu government, which manages the Mullaperiyar dam in the district has informed that three more shutters of the dam will be opened 50 centimetres each, discharging a total of 3,119 cusecs of water. The Banasura Sagar Dam in Wayanad district will be opened on Monday, district authorities said.
"There are chances that the water level will reach the upper rule level of 774 metre by itself. In that case, one shutter will be raised by 10 cms to discharge 8.50 cumecs of water per second," the district authorities said in a release, Pathanamthitta district administration informed that the Kakki dam will be opened at 11 AM on Monday following the instruction from the state rule level monitoring committee.
A Red alert was already issued at the Kakki dam. Earlier in the day, state Water Resources Minister Roshy Augustine said that the district authorities will ensure that the people downstream the dams are moved to safety in case of any emergency. Meanwhile, the State Disaster Management Authority said 22 people lost their lives in various rain-related incidents in the state since July 31. While five people are missing, five were injured. There are 337 active relief camps where 14,611 people are accommodated. The Authority also said that 46 houses were fully damaged while 19 suffered partial damages. (PTI)
