Two youths drown while taking holy dip in Cauvery

COIMBATORE: Two youths from Kalparaipatti in Salem district drowned while taking dip in Cauvery at Kooduthurai on the last day of Maha Pushkaram on Sunday.

The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon when Kalaiyarasan and his friend Ramesh, both 19, from Kalparaipatti, had come to Bhavani to take bath at Kooduthurai, confluence of rivers Bhavani, Cauvery and Amudha, the police said.

"Both of them entered the river located near the Coimbatore-Salem national highway and were bathing at a restricted area. However, they were caught in the strong undercurrent and drowned," a police officer said. When alerted, fire and rescue service personnel reached the spot and fished out the bodies. Ramesh was working in a powerloom unit and Kaviyarasan was a private college student. The bodies were later sent to the Erode government hospital for postmortem.

The Chithode police have registered a case and further investigation is on.

Maha Pushkaram is celebrated across the state at various points of Cauvery. People from Coimbatore, Tirupur, Erode, Salem, Namakkal and other districts usually flock to Cauvery at Kooduthurai, a holy site located in Bhavani town, to take dip on the occasion of the festival.