Thottappally Spillway is

Kuttanad Kuttanad ( ml, കുട്ടനാട്‌) is a region covering the Alappuzha, Kottayam and Pathanamthitta Districts, in the state of Kerala, India, well known for its vast paddy fields and geographical peculiarities. The region has the lo ...

's drain-way out to the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

. The Thottappally Spillway splits the Thottappally lake with the fresh water part to the east and saline Thottappally river mouth to the west merging with the Arabian Sea. Thottappally spillway is constructed to spill excess water coming over the

Upper Kuttanad Upper Kuttanad is a part of India's Kuttanad region. It consists of parts of Kottayam, Pathanamthitta, and Alapuzha districts. Kuttanad is broadly divided into Lower Kuttanad (Taluks of Ambalapuzha and Kuttanad in Alappuzha district), Upper ...

and Lower Kuttanad regions through

Manimala River Manimala River or Manimalayar is a 92km long river which flows through South and Central Kerala. The river used to be wrongly considered as a tributary of Pamba River before satellite maps became popular, but this was proved incorrect. Manimala d ...

, Achancovil River and

Pamba River The Pamba River (also called Pampa River) is the longest river in the Indian state of Kerala after Periyar and Bharathappuzha, and the longest river in the erstwhile former princely state of Travancore. Sabarimala temple dedicated to Lord Ayy ...

. It is designed such that it could spill off 19,500 cubic meters of water per second, but after its construction it was found that it is able to spill 600 cubic meters of water per second. Reasons for this reduced flow rate are, strong sea breezes during rainy seasons resulting in a rise in sea level relative to the water level of

, formation of sand bars on the western area of the spillway and the width of the leading canal is too narrow to carry this much water to the spillway.Kuttanad 1992 Published by Kerala Sasthrasahithya Parishat

History

Spillway work forms part of the Kuttanad development scheme included in the first five year national plan. Spill way was inaugurated by Sri. Pattom Thanupillai on 5 December 1955.

References

{{coord, 9.3174, 76.3864, type:landmark_region:IN, display=title Arabian Sea Spillways Buildings and structures in Kerala