As the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam has lowered, boating in the Periyar Lake has been suspended by the forest department of Government of Kerala, with effect from today. It is observed as the rarest of occurrence of this kind. The water level has come done as low as 108.7 feet which makes boating risky and not feasible in the lake. Boating has been suspended earlier for a few months after the capsize of a boat in year 2009. The lack of summer rains and the drainage of large quantity of water by Tamil Nadu are the reasons for lowering the water level. As the water level has come done to 112 Tamil Nadu has restricted use of water for drinking water supply only. The rains that have been received in the recent past has helped maintain the water level hitherto. However, in the last few days, drivers have been struggling to manage the boat at low water levels. The deputy director of Periyar Wild Life Sanctuary, Mr. Kishan Kumar, has informed the CEO of Musafir Tours, Mr. Benny George, that it is to ensure the safety of the travellers that the boating is suspended for the time being. Larger boats were operating service from about 1 kilometer from the regular landing area since the water reached the level of 110 feet. Nevertheless, the level of water has still lowered that such measures have become not feasible now. At the Periyar Lake, a lower level boat landing was temporarily constructed to operate boating in the past years in such occasions. The probability of wild animals coming to the lake for questing the thirst as most of the water sources within the tiger reserve were exhausted raises the possibility of wild animal attacks on tourists doing boating has been considered
As the water level in the Mullaperiyar dam has lowered, boating in the Periyar Lake has been suspended by the forest department of Government of Kerala, with effect from today. It is observed as the rarest of occurrence of this kind. The water level has come done as low as 108.7 feet which makes boating
