Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala government is planning to rely on satellite technology to monitor the rainfall in the catchment areas of the Mullaperiyar dam. The government has handed over Rs 1.5 crore to the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) towards the project. The project is expected to be commissioned next year.

The conventional method of measuring the rain on a day-to-day basis is grossly inadequate in recording the amount of rainfall in the catchment areas or the expected inflow into the reservoir. The satellite technology is expected to enable the authorities check the inflow every hour.

Read more: Danger lurks as panel to check Mullaperiyar waters is in limbo

The government was forced to look for sophisticated measurement tools because the GPS and SIM-enabled technologies could not be used in Mullaperiyar’s catchment areas where mobile phone coverage is erratic.

The forest department has been entrusted with the task of installing devices in 12 spots in the catchment areas of the reservoir. The forest department already has offices and observation points in those areas. The forest department has been asked to look after the installation of devices to speed up the implementation of the project.

Any outsider will require the permission of the forest department to get inside the catchment areas which mostly falls in forest areas. The department has already received money for the installation and started the work.

The Kerala government plans to share the information obtained from the satellites because Tamil Nadu is in charge of the reservoir. The data will also be shared with an expert committee formed at the behest of the Supreme Court. The authorities expect to make the running of the dam more efficient with the new technology.

Mullaperiyar dam dispute

Mullaperiyar dam is 155ft tall and has a storage of 133.6ft as of now. It will peak to 142ft only if 2.2 TMC water flows in additionally. The court-appointed panel has been sitting pretty for three years, unable to formulate rules even for the activation of shutters in an emergency. Neither is the state government able to exert pressure to gain its rights.

The panel members are the chief engineer in charge of dam safety at the Central Water Commission and the Water Resources secretaries of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The committee is in charge of the dam since the 2014 Supreme Court verdict. An office was opened for official-level co-ordination, but the panel members meet only once in an year.

Neither has it implemented any of the directives of the apex court.

Rules drawn up in 1939 are still binding on the dam. The Central Water Commission set Mullaperiyar water level at a maximum of 136 ft after Kerala petitioned it, but in 2006 Tamil Nadu got permission to raise it to 142 ft.

Kerala enacted a law to keep the level at 136 ft, but the apex court did not approve it. The level was raised to 142, but the court in 2014 proposed a separate panel to regulate the dam's functioning. That gave Kerala also a significant role in its control.

The regulatory panel in 2015 had asked Tamil Nadu to formulate rules for the operation of the 13 shutters of the dam. Kerala then warned that the situation in Mullaperiyar is different from pre-1979 days. As Tamil Nadu did draw up rules, but they were not acceptable to the committee, which insisted that they should be revised. However, the neighbouring state has not been ready to do anything further in the past three years.

Neither is Kerala able to press for it. Co-ordination between the two states could have been possible and fears over opening of the shutters as water rises could have been avoided if the new rules are in place.

The monsoon is not intense in Tamil Nadu. They get copious rain in the north-eastern monsoon and take more water in June-July when monsoon intensifies in Kerala.

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