Alert in TN delta districts as major rivers swell, many places flooded

More than 200 people were evacuated from Thavittupalayam village near Thirumukkudal in Karur district as floods inundated their houses and hundreds of acres of agriculture land on Thursday.
Since the area falls at the confluence of the Cauvery, Bhavanisagar and Amaravthi rivers, the district administration has moved the people to safety. It is after 40 years that more than 3 lakh cusecs of water is being realized at Thirumukkudal.

A flood alert has been sounded in 11 districts as the discharge from the Mettur, Bhavanisagar and Amaravathi dams was expected to go up, with Karnataka releasing 2.1 lakh cusecs from the Kabini and Krishnaraja Sagar dams into the Cauvery. The Central Water Commission has issued an alert saying a combined release of about 2.5 lakh cusecs was expected to be made from the Mettur and Bhavanisagar dams and asked the state government to take precautionary steps.

The downstream areas of Thirumukkudal were expected to see a combined release of more than 3 lakh cusecs. It is after 40 years that such a quantum of water is being realised at this spot.

A total of 10 camps in Mettur, three camps in Edappadi and three in Sankagiri have been kept ready to put up people in case of emergency.

With substantial outflow from the dams following heavy rain in Kerala and Karnataka, many areas have been flooded, dislocating families and throwing life out of gear. Many trains were either cancelled or partially cancelled.

As Hogenakkal falls in Dharmapuri saw 1.7lakh cusecs of inflow, water surrounded 31 houses which had been constructed on river poromboke land. People have been barred from bathing in the Hogenakkal falls; coracle rides have been barred.

In Coimbatore, three houses collapsed on Thursday morning after surplus water from the Kurichi tank was discharged into the Noyyal river through the Sunnambu Kalvai channel.

In Kanyakumari district, the rain has receded but it would take a few days for the district to limp back to normalcy. Many low lying parts close to the Thamirabarani and Paraliyar rivers and channels that were flooded on Wednesday continued to be inundated on Thursday as well. Hundreds of houses in such low lying areas were still under water.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu has offered to chlorinate water supply and provide medical support to people in areas of Wayanad and Idukki districts of Kerala. On Thursday, officials from the state health department were discussing the needs with officials in the border areas.

Essential medicines, including antibiotics such as doxycycline, have been sent by the Tamil Nadu Medical Services Corporation to border areas and medical camps have been set up. "There are in areas where approach from the Kerala side is difficult. Officials working in border areas of both the states were working together," he said. Doctors from the Nilgiris and Theni districts have set up camps to help people living in Kerala.