Fifty villagers of Chinnarkulam near Karungulam in the district were shifted to a relief camp on Thursday morning after water overflowing from a nearby irrigation tank flooded their houses.
With waterbodies of the district getting significant influx of water following the recent rain, most of the irrigation tanks now have 75% of storage level. Of the 639 irrigation tanks, more than 450 have 75% storage.
When heavy downpour drenched parts of the district, including Karungulam area on Wednesday night, more than 10 irrigation tanks in the region attained the maximum storage level and the water overflowing from Sathanerikulam marooned Chinnarkulam village near Karungulam in the early hours of Thursday.
Subsequently, 50 villagers were relocated to a nearby relief centre created in a marriage hall. Srivaikundam MLA ‘Oorvasi’ S. Amirtharaj visited the relocated people and distributed relief material to them.
“Twenty families have been settled there with all basic facilities and adequate space with mask, sanitiser, etc. Steps have been taken to drain the water at the earliest so as to ensure their early return to their homes,” Collector K. Senthil Raj said.
Dr. Senthil Raj also said the village administrative officers had been asked to update the ‘adangal’ about all standing crops into the account and update details about fields/farmers eligible for crop damage compensation, if any. The updated information would be cross-checked by the agriculture department officials.
Meanwhile, Special Officer for Disaster Management and Rescue Abhin Dinesh Modak reviewed the arrangements put in place to rescue the people from the marooned low-lying areas.
Superintendent of Police S. Jayakumar explained in detail about the preparedness and the vulnerable low-lying areas identified in the district.
