Dipping water levels raise fears

PALAKKAD: As temperatures soar, water level in various dams in the district is fast dropping, raising fears of drinking water shortage.The water level in Malampuzha dam on Tuesday was 104.29 metres on Tuesday compared to 108.75 metres on the same day last year. The dam caters to the drinking water needs of the Palakkad municipality and six adjacent panchayats.“The water from the dams was released for paddy cultivation till February 26. In all probability, the water will be enough to provide drinking water till June,” Malampuzha irrigation project Assistant Executive Engineer C A Jamaludheen said.“One of the best alternatives to solve the drinking water problem is to construct checkdams along the Bharathapuzha basin. If water is released through the irrigation canal of the Malampuzha dam, the checkdams would be filled. Though a proposal was given for the construction of 14 permanent checkdams, only three were built,” said T N N Bhattathiripad, former chief engineer of the Kerala Water Authority. Though the Water Resources Department states that they had to release water from the reservoir till the end of February because the farmers used long-gestation paddy seeds, it is refuted by farmers’ organisations. “Only the areas served by the Chitturpuzha has long-gestation paddy seeds and harvesting extends till the first week of April,” Desiya Karshaka Samajam general secretary Muthalamthode Mani said.The water level in the Pothundy dam was 93.65 metres on Tuesday, as against 98.91 metres in 2011. Water level in Mangalam dam, 72.24 metres a year ago, was 65.02 metres. It is only in Walayar that the level remains the same at 194 metres. The level in Chulliyar dam had dipped to 5.18 metres, as against 10.05 metres in 2011.