The rains over the last few days have brought relief to not just residents of the Nilgiris, but to also the boatmen at the Ooty Lake, as the consistent showers have ensured that the water level rose slightly at the artificial lake.
Over the last few weeks, the boatmen and the Tourism Department officials were waiting for the rains as the boat hulls were being damaged as there was not enough water for the boats to safely navigate the outer-reaches of the lake. As a result, rocks at the bottom of the lake were scraping the hulls of the boat, causing damage to them and leading the boatmen to incur heavy repair costs. There were heavy rains in the Nilgiris since Friday, with more than 318 mm of rainfall being recorded to have fallen across the district on Saturday and Sunday. Udhagamandalam itself witnessed 14.1 mm rainfall, according to the rain gauge readings from the Disaster Management and Mitigation Department.
Tourism Department officials had asked the Tamilnadu Water Supply and Drainage (TWAD) Board to release more water into the lake due to the falling water levels. However, the rains have now ensured that boating can continue safely for the coming weeks, with officials hoping for more rain to follow. “There was an almost 4-feet decrease in the water levels prior to the rains, but the rains have led to an increase in water levels by around 2-feet,” an official from the Tourism Department said.
Speaking to The Hindu , the official said that the lake had not been desilted for the last few years, and that most parts of it were less than 20-feet deep. The official said that only if there was water flowing in from the Kodappamund Channel would the lake maintain its current levels.
