Ensure water level of Mullaperiyar dam remains under control: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Friday directed Kerala's subcommittee to ensure that the water level in Mullaperiyar dam does not exceed 139 ft. 

The top court also asked the  National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) to scale up rescue, relief and rehabilitation programme across flood-hit Kerala. 

The Tamil Nadu government on Thursday turned down Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's request to reduce the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam to 139 feet. 

On Wednesday, Pinarayi requested Tamil Nadu CM Palaniswami to direct authorities to release water from the dam in order to bring the water level down to 139 ft.

Tamil Nadu government on Thursday stated that the century-old reservoir was 'safe' enough to store water up to 142 feet.

The Supreme Court on Thursday described the flood situation in Kerala as "grave".

As many as 324 people have been killed in the deluge so far, a Red Alert was sounded in all 14 districts on Thursday. Operations at the Kochi airport have been suspended till August 26 and flights were being diverted to various airports.

Around 15,000 people have been rescued from the flood-hit state in the last nine days.

Kerala says the total loss due to floods is estimated to be over Rs 8,000 crore.