۳٫۱ Topographical Survey

The project site Valara is located in the Adimali Grama Panchayat of Idukki district in Kerala. The site is located at a distance of 14 Km from Adimali. The site is connected by road from Kothamangalam to Adimali. The site is very near to the main road. The stream is a seasonal one, but it has more discharge in rainy season because of its large catchment. The catchment of Valara waterfall is located between 10°۱۸′۳۶″N latitude and 76°۲۹′۴۵″E longitude. About 70% of the catchment area is under dense mixed forest and rest of the area is utilized for human settlements and cultivation of rubber, cardamom, tapioca, areca nut and coconut. The catchment of Valara was identified using the top sheet and it is about 63 Km2 . The head of the water fall is 80 m and it is situated at an elevation of 460 m from mean sea level. During the survey, the possible location for weir, forebay tank, penstock, turbine, power house were also identified.

۳٫۲ Geological Survey

The rock exposures along this stream have been studied in details. The rock type is found to be pyroxene granulite. It is a massive, grano blastic, measocratic rock composed of plagioclase, potash feldspar, hornblende and biotite. The general rock type is charnockite. A good portion of the Western Ghats is made up of this rock. In the Travancore area the rocks are well foliated and show intrusive relationship with peninsular gneiss. They are highly garnetiferous as compared to the charnokites of North Kerala, where garnet is absent. About 80% of the proposed site has an exposed rock presence.