Alert us while opening Pillur dam: Residents

Coimbatore: Mettupalayam residents on Thursday requested the district administration to sound a siren whenever water was released to Bhavani river from Pillur dam as otherwise many youngsters were either getting caught in the strong water current or getting washed away while bathing due to sudden increase in inflow. They said the siren that was installed in 2013 had not been functioning for the past two years.
In March 2013, a family of five had drowned in the river while washing clothes as water was released from the Pillur dam without any warning after power generation. Following this, the government installed a siren, which would be sounded one and a half hours after water was released from Pillur, in Mettupalayam. It was timed so, as water takes as much time to reach Mettupalayam.
Former Mettupalayam municipality chairman Satheesh Kumar said the siren had not been functioning for the past two years. “As a result, people sitting and playing on the river banks get washed away when water is released. Same applies for people performing funeral rights on the river banks behind Badrakaliamman Temple.”
D Karthik, a resident of Mettupalayam, blamed the authorities for not taking any step to rectify the situation. “If the siren is sounded, people would move away from the banks and stay away for the next one and a half hours.”
While a family of three was drowned in the river in May this year, youngsters regularly get caught and washed away in the strong water current, the residents said. “The week before last, fire and rescue services personnel rescued a youngster in the afternoon. As there is no set time for releasing water, every few weeks someone gets trapped in the water current and requires rescuing,” Karthik said.