Water level in the Idukki dam dropped to 2398.82 feet on Sunday from around 2401 feet despite intermittent rain in the catchment areas Saturday night.
The catchment area of the dam received 25 mm rain on Saturday night.
One more shutter of the Idamalayar dam was opened even though the water level dipped. Here too, the incessant rain in the catchment had stopped.
The five shutters of the Cheruthoni dam will remain open until the water inflow dropped to 120 cumecs from the current 498 cumecs. The water level went down by two feet on Friday (in 36 hours) when all the shutters were opened, inundating the Cheruthoni town.
However, the government and the district administration were maintaining high alert with the Met department warning of more rain in the next two days.
Death toll
The death toll in the Kerala monsoon fury has touched 37. Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh will visit flood-hit areas and hold discussions with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Kochi on Sunday.
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With the let up in rain, life is limping back to normal in affected areas, including Palakkad and Wayanad, where floodwaters have started receding. A total of 60,622 people have been put up in 513 relief camps across Kerala, officials at the state disaster management control room said.
A total of 1,501 houses had been damaged and 101 completely destroyed, they said. Crops on 1,301 hectares has been lost.
According to the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS), flooding was possible in the coastal areas of Kerala due to 'Perigean spring tides' in the August 11-15 period. (A Perigean tide is caused due to the proximity of the moon to the Earth).
The government machinery, the Army, Navy and the India Coast Guard (ICG) were on the ground, evacuating people and reaching relief materials including food and water to flood-hit places.
Contingents of the armed forces and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were maintaining a high alert as parts of Ernakulam and Idukki districts and the places along the banks of the Periyar were under water.
Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) sources said water release from the dam was being closely monitored. Now, 7.50 lakh litres of water was being released from the Idukki dam per second. The rate of discharge would be maintained till the water level came down substantially, they said.
A decision on closing the shutters would be taken only after analysing the circumstances, including possibility of more rain. Two shutters of the Idamalayar dam remain open on Sunday. The water has been flowing out of the dam at a rate of 200 cubic metre per second, bring the level down to 168.90 metres.
Meanwhile, heavy downpour has been reported from various parts of Wayanad.