The Thekkady Lake basin is now a cracked earth tableau. With summer temperatures scorching the Western Ghats, water flow from the Mullaperiyar dam to the Lower Camp Periyar Hydel Power Project has completely stopped. The result: four generators capable of producing 168 megawatts per hour have gone silent. For four Tamil Nadu districts — Theni, Madurai, Dindigul and Tirunelveli — this means interrupted power supply to industries, hospitals, and households during peak summer demand.
An irrigation department official confirmed that the water level in Mullaperiyar dam has fallen to 109 feet — notably lower than the 115-plus feet recorded during the same period in previous years. Until April 17, the penstock was releasing around 200 cubic feet per second, barely enough to keep one generator running at reduced capacity. By April 11, generation had already dropped to 23 megawatts. Once flow fell below the 200-cubic-feet threshold, the system automatically shut down. This is not a routine maintenance outage, though officials have now begun servicing the four penstock pipes and generators. What makes this summer exceptional is the duration and intensity of the dry spell. Local observers note that both Thekkady Lake and the dam have not faced such severe depletion in nearly fifteen years. Meanwhile, water continues to be released through the Iratchilpalam Canal for drinking purposes and to fill ponds in Theni district ahead of a local festival — a decision that deepens the drought impact on Kerala’s side of the ecosystem.
The economics of this shutdown are stark. At full capacity, Lower Camp supplies power that supports industrial belts across southern Tamil Nadu. A 168MW gap during summer — when air conditioning and agricultural pumping loads peak — forces the state grid to rely on more expensive or carbon-intensive sources. For small businesses in Madurai’s manufacturing clusters or cold storage units in Dindigul, every hour of uncertain supply translates into real losses. What the shutdown reveals is the vulnerability of inter-state water-energy dependencies in a heating climate. The Mullaperiyar structure, built more than a century ago, was never designed for back-to-back heatwaves. The dam’s storage is shared for power, drinking water, and irrigation — but in a zero-sum summer, something always loses. Maintenance work has begun on the generators and penstock. But the only true restart button is the monsoon — and whether it arrives in time, and with enough volume, remains an open question.
Summer Halts Power Flow From Kerala To Four TN Districts
