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AIADMK coordinator and former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Panneerselvam on Sunday urged the state government to maintain the water level at the Mullaperiyar dam at 142 feet as per the Supreme Court order.
Accusing the ruling government, Panneerselvam said, "When AIADMK was in power, the Mullaperiyar dam was held up to 142 feet several times but this system was not followed for two years after DMK came to power." At present, the level of Mullaperiyar dam has reached 137 feet due to continuous rains in Western Ghats and catchment areas. Earlier, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote a letter to Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu MK Stalin asking him to take steps to release the excess water. Following this, there have been reports that the Tamil Nadu government has released 534 cubic feet of water per second from the Mullaperiyar dam to the Kerala region without consulting the farmers of Tamil Nadu. Farmers from Madurai, Dindigul, Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga districts of Tamil Nadu who benefit from the Mullaperiyar dam claim that the "rule curve" is the reason why the Mullaperiyar dam does not store water up to 142 feet. The agricultural unions have also strongly condemned this "rule curve" provision. This "rule curve" rule is said to be the reason for the release of water from the Mullaperiyar dam. A rule curve is a measure that defines the storage or the vacant space maintained in a reservoir at different times of the year. (ANI)
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