Water released from Mullaperiyar dam for irrigation, drinking purposes

A view of Mullaperiyar dam | Photo Credit: The Hindu

Theni District Collector Ranjith Singh released water for irrigation and drinking purposes from the Mullaperiyar reservoir at Thekkadi on Sunday (June 1, 2025).

Following a directive from the Tamil Nadu government, the Water Resources Department officials said that they would release 200 cusecs for irrigation in ayacutdars of double crop region in Cumbum valley and 100 cusecs for drinking water for the residents of Theni for the next 120 days depending on the storage level.

The water release would benefit 14,707 acres of land situated across Theni, Uthamapalayam and Bodi taluks. The Collector appealed to the farmers’ to make use of the water being released from the reservoir judiciously and urged them to focus on higher yield.

Southwest monsoon

Following the advance setting in of the southwest monsoon in Kerala, the western ghats in southern parts of Tamil Nadu experienced widespread rain. The farmers’ were jubilant as the rainfall was expected only by May end.

For instance, the storage level in Mullaperiyar dam stood at 114 feet on May 23. With steady rainfall in the catchment areas, the storage level rose up to 130.15 ft on May 31, which was 16 feet in seven days. The permissible storage level in the dam is 142 ft.

Under such circumstances, the officials said that they would be able to stick to the timeline in the release of water from the reservoir as the weather forecast appeared to be friendly and that there may not be any deviation.

Uthamapalayam RDO Syed Mohamed, Executive Engineer Selvam and farmers’ representatives from various associations participated in the ceremony held at Thekkadi.

Published - June 01, 2025 04:44 pm IST