Chennai, Oct 29 (BPNS)

Tamil Nadu water resources minister and senior leader of the DMK said that the Mullaperiyar dam was safe and that Tamil Nadu was operating it properly according to the directives of the supervisory committee constituted by the Supreme Court of India.

In a statement of Friday, the senior leader said that the Mullperiyar dam was safe and the state water resources department was operating the dam according to the rule curve approved by the Central water commission (CWC).

He said that Tamil Nadu has been continuously monitoring the rainfall in the catchment area and the water level in the dam on the basis of the directive from the Supreme Court of India for maintaining the maximum storage level at 142 ft and the maximum water level according to the rule curve approved by the Central Water Commission.

The minister, in the statement, said that the Supreme court has directed to follow the rule curve till the next hearing on November 11 and said that this was after hearing the arguments of the Tamil Nadu government on a  writ petition filed by an individual from Kerala.

Duraimurugan said that Tamil Nadu has been continuously drawing water through the Vaigai tunnel continuously to maintain the water level in the dam as per the rule curve. He said that the Water Resources department of the Tamil Nadu government has decided to draw maximum water through the Vaigai tunnel and to release 500 cusecs of water by opening the two spillway shutters at 7.30 am on Friday.

The Tamil Nadu minister said that these measures were taken following the heavy and incessant rains at the catchment areas of Mullaperiyar dam. He said that Tamil Nadu has opened the spillway shutters after properly informing the authorities of the Kerala side to take the necessary precautions downstream.

Kerala water resources minister Roshy Augustine and state revenue minister, K. Rajan have been camping at the Idukki district downstream of Mullaperiyar to monitor the progress of the arrival of water at Vattavada areas. The Kerala state has already evacuated 300 families from the area following the opening of the spillway shutters of the Mullaperiyar dam