Cheruthoni dam shut as rain threat recedes

Thiruvananthapuram: One shutter of the Cheruthoni dam, a part of the Idukki reservoir, was closed on Sunday afternoon, a day after it was opened as a precaution amid forecast of heavy rains. The IMD had issued an intense rain alert for three districts – Idukki, Palakkad and Thrissur - on October 7, however the skies were mostly clear, at least, until Sunday afternoon.

The dam shutter was opened by 70 centimetres on Saturday and it continued to release a whopping 50,000 litres of water per second from the gigantic reservoir. The water level had reached 2,387.5 feet when the shutter was opened. The shutter was closed at 3 pm.

Earlier in August all the shutters of the Cheruthoni dam were opened as rain intensified across Kerala. They were shut on September 7, a month later as rain and floods subsided.

The authorities have withdrawn the red and orange alerts issued for certain districts in the wake of a brewing cyclone in the Arabian Sea. But yellow alert will continue in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Pathanamthitta, Idukki and Wayanad districts.The storm, the IMD had said, would travel in a northwesterly direction scraping the Lakshadweep Islands.

Kerala, meanwhile, is expected to see the early arrival of Thulavarsham or northeast monsoon by Monday. That is expected to bring copious rain in the afternoon until Friday. The season normally begins mid-October, but the presence of heavy clouds on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu coastlines is seen to have ushered it in earlier.