The floods in Kerala would have been less devastating had the state released water from its 39 dams from July end when the levels in most of them reached 85– 100% of the capacity, say experts. “Yes, the rainfall was extremely heavy; much more than Kerala receives at this time of the year. However, the IMD (Indian Meteorological Department) had predicted that the extremely heavy rainfall was very likely and the state should have taken the decision to release water from the dams that were almost full when the rains had subsided in July,” said an IMD official on condition of anonymity.
The floods in Kerala would have been less devastating had the state released water from its 39 dams from July end when the levels in most of them reached 85– 100% of the capacity, say experts. “Yes, the rainfall was extremely heavy; much more than Kerala receives at this time of the year. However, the IMD (Indian Meteorological Department) had predicted that the extremely heavy rainfall was very likely and the state should have taken the decision to release water from the dams that were almost full when the rains had subsided in July,” said an IMD official on condition of anonymity.