Sholayar Dam

News: An elderly woman was found dead and partially consumed, allegedly by a leopard, near her residence at Sholayar Nagar in the Sholayar Dam.

About Sholayar Dam

• Location: The Sholayar Dam is situated near Valparai in Tamil Nadu.
•  It is a masonry gravity dam built across the Sholayar River, which forms part of the Chalakudy River basin.
• Build it: The dam was constructed between 1961 and 1971 and is considered the highest dam in Tamil Nadu.
• The Sholayar Hydroelectric Project was the second major hydroelectric project established in the Chalakudy River basin in Kerala.
  • This project consists of three dams: the Sholayar Main Dam, Sholayar Flanking Dam, and Sholayar Saddle Dam, which together form a single reservoir.
• Height and length: The dam has a height of 66.15 m from its deepest foundation and a length of 430.53 m.
• Installed capacity: It has an installed power generation capacity of 54 MW.
• Total capacity: At full capacity, the reservoir can store approximately 153.48 million cubic meters (Mm³) of water, and the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) is 811.69 meters.
• Power generation: Water from the reservoir is diverted to a powerhouse located on the bank of the Anakkayam stream (Kerala), where it is used to generate 54 MW of electricity.
• The dam is surrounded by tropical deciduous and evergreen forests that support a wide variety of wildlife, including sambar deer, spotted deer, barking deer, elephants, leopards, gaur, and tigers.