Kerala: GSI to conduct earthquake study for Idukki reservoir

IDUKKI: KSEB has formed a seven-member committee to conduct a micro earthquake (MEQ) study at Idukki reservoir in the wake of the mild tremors reported in the dam area in recent times. According to officials, the study assumes significance due to its large catchment area and also due to the presence of 10 small dams in the 40km radius of the Idukki reservoir. Geological Survey of India (GSI) will conduct the study and the report will be handed over to KSEB within four months. Officials said KSEB formed an expert committee with Sameer Kumar Shukla, director foundation engineering and special analysis, Union water authority, as chairman and Preetha R, deputy chief engineer, dam safety organization as convener. The other members of the panel include CVR Moorthy of Chennai IIT, Ishwar Dutt Gupta, former director, Central Water and Power Research Station; Sandip Kumar Som, deputy director general, GSI, western region and Aloshy Paul, former executive engineer, KSEB.A KSEB dam safety official said that the MEQ study aims to install seismic equipment in Idukki dam. "As part of the project, KSEB will install their own seismic equipment for the first time in the dam and it will provide timely data to KSEB," said the official. KSEB officials said mild tremors have been occurring more frequently near Asia's biggest arch dam since February 2020 and dams of KSEB, including Cheruthoni and Kulamavu. Idamalayar, Mattupetty and Ponmudi dams are also located in the region. However, no significant problems are observed in the KSEB dams so far due to the earthquakes. The impact of these tremors on the safety of the dams, seismic behaviour of the area, probability of occurrence of high intensity seismic events, and precautionary measures to be taken will be part of the study, officials said.Earlier, seismologist Harsh K Gupta had reported that Idukki dam was one of the nine main dams situated in earthquake-prone areas in the world. A report of the Building Materials Promotion and Technology Council under the central government has also reported that the possibility of an earthquake was above 50% in Kerala.