Idukki, Sunday 22 November 2009: A third flood warning has been issued as water levels in the Mullaperiyar dam had crossed 135.8 feet on Sunday. People living in Vandiperiyar, Upputhara and Ayyappancoil have been asked to move to safer places.

The water level in the Mullaperiyar dam rose to 135.5 ft on Saturday in the previous day’s rain in Thekkady, the catchment area of the dam. The highest maintained water level is 136 ft.

Tamilnadu PWD Chief Engineer Ramamurthi visited the dam as the rise in the water level touched 135.1 ft on Friday.

Two days back the expert team led by Mullaperiyar Special Cell Chief, M.K.Parameswaran, had visited the Mullaperiyar dam o, and found four new leakages developed to the century-old dam. The new leakages were found on the 9, 10, 17 and 18 blocks of the dam. There were earlier reports that considerable quantity of water was flowing from the 18 block, where the ‘surki’ mixture which was used for the dam, had peeled off due to the considerable pressure of water.