Salem: AIADMK general secretary Edappadi K Palaniswami on Tuesday said the DMK govt had failed to alert people living in the low-lying areas about water release from dams, resulting in untold hardship for them.
Inspecting the rain-affected areas in Salem on Tuesday, EPS told reporters that the state Water Resources Department had released water at a rate of 1.28 cusecs from Sathanur dam without any warning, affecting those living along the Thenpennai river bank. Flaying the govt for poor precautionary measures, he said the flooding from Sathanur dam had compounded the woes of people in the cyclone hit areas.
He stated that the damage could have been less severe had the DMK govt acted on the Indian Meteorological Department's red alert for these areas. "Due to inadequate precautions, residents have suffered from the heavy rainfall."
He called upon the state govt to assess the rain and flood-affected regions and seek appropriate assistance from the central govt. Regarding the landslide in Tiruvannamalai, EPS noted that lives could have been spared if evacuations were done before the cyclone.
EPS noted that the Thirumanimuthar river has been flooding due to heavy rainfall, particularly in the Yercaud region, causing water to enter houses along the river bank. "Water is stagnant in wards 22 and 24," he said, adding that water from Allikuttai lake has also flooded several houses on Allikuttai, Alamarathur and Boyar streets near Veeranam.
Pointing out that landslides have occurred in about 20 locations on the Salem-Yercaud ghat road, EPS urged the district administration to commence relief work immediately. He urged officials to clear the debris and boulders blocking the ghat road to restore traffic to Yercaud. "A low-level bridge connecting about 22 villages in Yercaud has been damaged, cutting off traffic for the past three days. There has also been a power outage. These issues need to be resolved as soon as possible," he said.