The flood situation along the Cauvery and Coleroon rivers eased on Monday as discharge of water gradually came down commensurate with the reducing inflow into the Mettur reservoir.
Though a few villages along the Coleroon and Cauvery river banks remained inundated in Tiruchi, Thanjavur and Nagapattinam districts, the water was receding, officials said.
On Monday, the realisation at Mukkombu (Upper Anicut) near Tiruchi came down to 1.72 lakh cusecs from over 2 lakh cusecs. Of this, 60,452 cusecs flowed into the Cauvery river, while 1,10,972 cusecs was diverted into the Coleroon river. Officials expect the realisation to come down further by Tuesday.
Public Works Department officials heaved a sigh a relief over the decrease in water flow as they had to toil round the clock to avert two major possible breaches in the region — one on the Cauvery banks at Mayanur in Karur district and the other on Coleroon banks at Alakudi in Nagapattinam district.
Handlooms and Textiles Minister O.S. Manian, accompanied by Sunil Paliwal, Principal Secretary, Higher Education and Monitoring Officer for Nagapattinam district, inspected the bund reinforcement work at Alakudi on Monday. Mr. Manian said over 13 truck loads of stone boulders had been used to reinforce the bund and another 50 loads would be used to strengthen it further.
In Tiruchi, water started receding from residential areas near Lingam Nagar on Kuzhumani Road on Monday. However, banana plantations on about 110 hectares remained inundated at Tiruvalarsolai, Killikoodu and Panayapuram on the outskirts.