Public Works Department (PWD) authorities have issued a second warning at the Mullaperiyar reservoir, after the water level reaching 138 feet at 3 a.m. on Thursday.

Members of the public have been cautioned to stay away from the riverside in many parts of the district, as officials have planned to step up discharge from the reservoir.

However, a farmers’ association president, K. M. Abbas and its coordinator Anwar Balasingam, representing five southern districts in Tamil Nadu have expressed their reservations.

Speaking to reporters in Cumbum, association representatives said that the Supreme Court had directed to store water up to 142 feet in 2014 in the reservoir, after ascertaining its safety and security, among other aspects. The PWD should hence, give warnings (first, second and third) when the water level reaches 140, 141 and 142 ft respectively. “What was the necessity for the engineers to give a warning at this level,” they asked.

Instead of increasing discharge from the dam, the engineers should store the water, which would help the farmers’ carry out their second crop activity in the region, Mr. Abbas said, and added that the State government should take proactive measures in the larger public interest.

Also Read: Mullaperiyar dam storage well within permitted level: M.K. Stalin

Since 2014, the farmers said, only four times has the water level reached the 142 ft mark and now, with good rainfall in the Western Ghats, the engineers should store the water. With 8,000 cusecs inflow into the reservoir, the dam level had risen from 125 ft to 135 ft in a few days. Over the last two to three days, many parts in and around Theni district too, had been experiencing rain and Moola Vaigai, Suruli river, Kottakudi and Varahanadhi, among others had witnessed a rise in water flow, they said.

The PWD authorities should only lower the discharge level from the present 2,150 cusecs and store it. The authorities should also issue a warning only when the storage level reached 140 feet and above, and it was unnecessary to issue warnings at this stage, they said.