Rain continues to lash the Western Ghats and the areas close to the mountainous region to jack up water level in all dams in the district much to the jubilation of farmers and water managers who were worried when storage level in reservoirs touched alarming levels in the first week of July.
Triggered by the low pressure in the Bay of Bengal, rain continues along the Western Ghats. The Papanasam Dam is receiving over 8,000 cusecs of water to take the storage level from 65.90 feet to 77.50 feet on Thursday morning – an increase of 12 feet.
Water level in the Servalar Dam rose to 80.64 feet to 108.59 feet and the storage level in Manimuthar Dam touched 54 feet from 50 feet.
Gundar Dam, smallest dam in the district, started overflowing on Thursday as it touched the maximum capacity of 36.10 feet. Storage level in smaller dams such as Gadananadhi, Karuppanadhi and Adavinaiar too rose considerably on Thursday even as incessant drizzle continues. But there was no significant inflow of water into the Pachchaiyar Dam near Kalakkad.
Tourists were prevented from taking bath in Main Falls, Five Falls and Old Courtallam Falls for the second day on Thursday as copious inflow of water caused floods in waterfalls throughout the day. Water flowed beyond the concrete arch of Main Falls forcing the police to prevent tourists from going near the waterfalls. Since the ‘thalaiyanai’ at Kalakkad was flowing menacingly, the tourists were not allowed to take bath in the stream.
Though the sky remained overcast throughout the day in the district, no rain was reported from the areas far away from the Western Ghats.
Rainfall in the district (in mm): Papanasam Dam – 110, Kodumudiyar Dam – 75, Radhapuram – 66.20, Adavinainar Dam – 55, Gundar Dam – 51, Servalar Dam – 47, Shencottai – 39, Ambasamudram – 37.60, Nanguneri – 28.20, Karuppanadhi Dam – 28, Manimuthar Dam – 22.40, Gadananadhi, Ramanadhi and Nambiyar Dams – 20, Kannadiyan Channel – 19.60, Tenkasi – 18.30, Kalakkad – 15.40, Moolaikkaraipatti – 13, Cheranmahadevi – 9, Palayamkottai – 3.40, Aayikudi – 2.80 and Tirunelveli – 1.50.
In Kanniyakumari district, the water level in the Perunchaani dam rose from 31.10 feet to 40.70 feet on Thursday morning, thanks to overnight rain. However, there was no significant inflow of water into Mukkadal Dam, the drinking water source for Nagercoil town.