Three houses collapse in Coimbatore after water released from Kurichi tank

COIMBATORE: Three houses collapsed on Thursday morning after surplus water from the Kurichi tank was discharged into the Noyyal river through Sunnambu Kalvai channel.
Nobody was injured after the collapse of the houses, said S Anwar (21), a resident of Sunnambu Kalvai, where over 500 families have been residing for five decades.

The tank with a storage capacity of 80 million cubic feet started to overflow on Wednesday morning, and Public Works Department (PWD) discharged the surplus water through Sunnambu Kalvai channel in the night. Around 2:30am, water gushed from the channel into the residential area through a sewage line.

Water entered ten houses that were located on banks of the channel and three houses collapsed without being able to withstand it, Anwar said, adding that the houses were thirty years old.

“As outlet of the houses were directly connected to the channel, water was entering the houses through them,” said S Abbas, another resident.

Official from the Coimbatore Corporation directed the residents to move to safe places as waterflow was likely to increase in the due to incessant rain.

The Slum Clearance Board allotted an alternative accommodation for the residents in a housing unit at Anna Nagar.