The Hindu : Front Page : KSEB team to visit Lower Periyar today

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Monday, Mar 05, 2007
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KSEB team to visit Lower Periyar today

Special Correspondent

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: An expert team of engineers from the Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) will visit Lower Periyar on Monday to study how to prevent the churned up silt in one of the reservoirs in the region from polluting the river downstream.

The stretch of the Periyar river downstream the Lower Periyar hydroelectric project has umpteen drinking water schemes feeding cities and towns such as Kochi and Aluva. Silt discharge into the river can become extremely troublesome during the rainless period of the year since there will be no flow in the river to flush it out into the sea.

The turbid tailrace waters of the power house at Lower Periyar run directly into the river. One option before the KSEB is to stop power generation at the project till the silt settles in the reservoir or the monsoon arrives. The expert team will study whether there is any better option and place its report before decision-makers within two days, sources said.

The problem arose when the KSEB was recently forced to drain part of the storage in the Kalyarkutty reservoir upstream Lower Periyar to lay penstock pipes for the Neriamangalam extension project, now under execution.

Silt that had accumulated in Kalyarkutty reservoir over the years got churned up when this was done. The turbid discharge flowed into the Pampa reservoir and thence to the river downstream Lower Periyar.

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