Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala is still counting the costs of the rain-related damage caused over the past few days and black clouds continue to hover above the state, but a silver lining has emerged amid all the havoc.
The copious rains have brought much-needed water into most of the state’s dams, and local media reported that the water that flowed into dams on one day — Sunday alone — is sufficient to produce enough power to serve the state for 10 days.
It is estimated that on Sunday alone, the hydel-power-based power stations in the state received enough water to produce 160 mu (million units) of electricity.
On Sunday, the Idukki dam, the largest hydel power project in the state, received water enough to produce 54 mu of power, and the water that reached the Sabarigiri project is sufficient to generate 29 mu of power.
Kerala had recently increased its reliance on hydel power following a shortage in coal supplies that affected coal-based power units in other states, and consequently the availability of power from those states.
This had led to depletion of water levels in the state’s dams, but the rains over the past weekend has replenished the dams to a large extent.
Current estimates put the average water level in all dams in the state at around 60 per cent. Sholayar, Peringalkuthu and Lower Periyar dams are full, and the water levels in Ponmudi and Neriyamangalam dams are nearing the brim.
Meanwhile, rain continued to fall in some parts of the state and authorities declared a holiday for educational institutions in Kozhikode district on Tuesday. Educational institutions were also closed on Tuesday in Kuttanad and Karthikapally taluks where different locations continued to be inundated.
