Both Kerala and Tamil Nadu authorities are putting in place safety measures as the water level in the disputed Mullaperiyar reservoir at Thekkady, close to the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border, crossed 140 feet for the first time in nearly a quarter century on Friday.

As rains continued in the catchment areas of the reservoir and the water level is inching up towards the Supreme Court-permitted 142 feet, the Idukki district administration on Friday afternoon put its emergency mechanism on standby mode. The Theni district administration in Tamil Nadu has also taken precautionary steps and issued a flood warning to the people living in the downstream areas of the stream that carries water from the dam to the farmlands in Tamil Nadu.

The Idukki District Disaster Management Council has asked people in the dam’s vicinity to be prepared to move out at short notice.

Precautions Four 24-hour control rooms have been set up different at taluk headquarters; 200 police personnel have been asked to stand by for evacuation and several ambulances have been kept at the ready.

By Friday morning, the water level touched 140.1 feet, triggering fears in the people living downstream of the Periyar river in Kerala’s Idukki and Ernakulam districts who are likely to be hit in the event of the 119-year-old masonry dam giving in. The water level had risen to 139.7 feet on Thursday night.

Kerala officials said Tamil Nadu was now drawing 456 cusecs (cubic feet per second) water while the inflow into the reservoir was 1916 cusecs. Rainfall in the catchment area on Friday was 16 mm. It was likely that the water level will touch the 142-feet mark in a couple of days. Friday’s was the highest the water level had touched in 22 years.

Earlier, when the level touched 139 feet, the Kerala Government had urged the dam supervisory panel, set up on the orders of the Supreme Court, to hold an emergency meeting.

The panel reportedly declined pointing out that the court had allowed the water level to go up to 142 feet. On Wednesday, the State Cabinet had discussed the rising water level and expressed its concern about the repercussions.

The government is now said to be considering moving the Supreme Court to direct the panel and the Tamil Nadu government to cap the level at 139 feet.

Legal battle Mullaperiyar is a political and emotional issue as well as an economic issue between Tamil Nadu and Kerala. The two States have fought several rounds of legal battle in the last couple of decades over the dam, which is owned and operated by Tamil Nadu but is located in Kerala.

The Kerala Government had, citing safety reasons, been pressing for capping the water level at 136 feet while Tamil Nadu insisted that the level should be much higher so that it could draw more water for irrigation.

As an alternative, Kerala had proposed to relocate the reservoir and build a new dam at its own cost, but Tamil Nadu, fearing it would lose control of the dam, rejected the proposal.

The Supreme Court, which determined that the water level be capped at 142 feet, also set up a panel to supervise the dam’s affairs.

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