Water loss test conducted in baby dam

THODUPUZHA:  The water loss test was conducted in the baby dam at Mullaperiyar to examine the porosity of the dam on Wednesday. The test reports were kept confidential and were not shared with the representatives of Kerala, Mullaperiyar Cell chairman M K Parameswaran Nair said. The secrecy was maintained as part of keeping them secure from the reach of the media, he said. The lack of transparency of the data collected will create more confusion because if Kerala is kept in dark, the reading could be changed for the benefit of one side, he said.  However, he expressed satisfaction that work on Kerala’s demand to conduct borehole test in the main dam at a depth of 130 feet up to the foundation had started.  This would give a clear picture of the strength of the dam.  The concrete work to erect the machine for drilling 130 feet borehole has just been completed. Three more holes are to be drilled in the dam. The water loss test in the baby dam was done by applying pressure on the bore hole. Central Water Power Research Station (CWPRS) senior research officer V T Desai supervised the drilling of the bore hole of 120 feet at the baby dam.The porosity of the dam was examined after applying pressure at three different levels of 55 feet to 45 ft, 30 ft to 20 ft and 15 ft to 5 ft.The water loss test is being conducted as the samples collected from the borehole in the baby dam was not satisfactory, sources said.