Vandiperiyar: “Our sufferings exceed the limit. When the water receded, the house which was made out of a lifetime’s savings is now filled with mud. If Tamil Nadu opens shutters of Mullaperiyar dam again during night without any humanitarian concern, we will not shift from our house. We are wholly  shattered and we feel it’s better to be swept away along with the waters,”,said Shajitha Shaji, who resides at Vallakkadavu. The natives here have decided not to go to relief camps this time. 

Tamil Nadu usually releases only a small amount of water at daytime. The aggregate water taken to the Vaigai river is also low. However, rain intensified in the catchment areas in the evening which caused the water level of Mullaperiyar dam to hit 142 feet, which is the maximum capacity. In a similar way, Tamil Nadu has been opening the shutters for more than a week. 

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had written a letter to his Tamil Nadu counterpart MK Stalin regarding the matter. Following this, Minister Roshy Augustine informed the media that only a limited amount of water will be let out at night. But within hours, Tamil Nadu released 12,654 cubic feet of water per hour. It was for the first time after the floods of 2018, such a huge quantity of water was being released. 

Releasing excess water at night 

By Monday 8 pm, more water started to flow out from the dam which induced floods in Vallakkadavu and Chappath. When Roshy Augustine reached the spot at 9.45 pm, people expressed their protest. Later, three of the nine shutters which were opened were closed and the water flow reduced to 8300 cuft. Tamil Nadu shut four more shutters on Tuesday morning and let out only 142 cu ft of water per second and diverted 900 cu ft of water to Vaigai river. 

At present, 2460 cu ft of water flows out of the dam per second and sends 1200 cu ft to Vaigai. 

Mullaperiyar youth committee, Congress and Muslim League demonstrated at Vandiperiyar against Tamil Nadu’s inhumane measures and Kerala government’s reluctance in the issue.