Are you willing to relocate?, Angering In response to the growing water level in the dam, Kerala and Tamil Nadu activated nine floodgates at the Mullaperiyar Dam on Monday, then closed three after 10 p.m. The Kerala government called the move “reckless,” saying it led to the flooding of a few regions and that the state would file a lawsuit in the High Court.
The dam’s 9 gates, which were first opened by 60 centimeters apiece at 7.45 p.m., were lifted by 120 centimeters (1.20m) to discharge 12654.09 cubic meters of water, according to the district administration. Following that, around 10 p.m., three of the shutters were closed and six were left open to release 8380.50 cubic meters of water, according to the report.
The move came as a surprise to Kerala, which had previously urged the Tamil Nadu administration not to open the gates at night. The Taluk dam will be reopened on Tuesday morning, according to Kerala river basin ministry Roshy Augustine, because the released water will flow to Idukki. ‘It was an unexpected move,’ she remarked.
The dam has been a source of contention between the two states for years. Tamil Nadu, which operates the Mullaperiyar dam, opposes its restoration for fear of losing control.
The Tamil Nadu government operates the Mullaperiyar dam, which was erected in 1895 on the Periyar river in Kerala’s Idukki region for agriculture and electricity.
The dam sits on the upper portions of the Periyar River, which originates in Tamil Nadu and goes into Kerala. The dam is located within the Periyar Wildlife Sanctuary, and the steam shifted from it is used to generate electricity in lower Periyar (Tamil Nadu), before the water that flows into the Suruliyar, a waterway of the Vaigai stream, and then watering nearly 2.08 lakh ha of land in Theni and 4 other districts further away.