Rain fills dams, leaves lakes in spate

Coimbatore: A day after rain pounded the district, it received sporadic showers on Sunday, when waterbodies were in spate.
Aliyar dam at Pollachi neared its full reservoir level of 120ft, as rain continued to lash its catchment areas in Western Ghats. Water level in the Sholayar dam at Valparai, where the highest rainfall was recorded in the district on Saturday, too touched its full reservoir level of 160ft. As the inflow to these dams kept rising, officials have increased the quantum of water being released from them.
Officials said almost all the waterbodies in the district had been maintaining a high water level for the past few months, because of the copious rainfall this year. While the district in general recorded mild showers throughout the day, some parts such as Valparai received heavy rain. The Koolangal river at Valparai was brimming and so was the Noyyal river and other waterbodies downhill. Check dams at Chithiraichavadi, Puttuvikki and Sunnambukalvai were overflowing and the water flow to lakes kept increasing steadily. However, the public were restricted to visit the check dams as a precautionary measure. Other tourist places such as Kovai Kutralam also remained closed for the public.
Officials said the water flow in the Noyyal had surged over the past two days, because of the heavy rainfall. However, environmentalists said many irrigation channels were yet to be desilted and as such the water flow was hindered.
Meanwhile, the city corporation is taking efforts to pump out water stagnating on the underpasses in the city. An official said they had kept ready a disaster management team to tackle emergency situations, if any.