The rains that started on Saturday continued overnight and well till Sunday evening. The almost-continuous rains brought down temperature and the cloud cover ensured that the mercury remained below the 30 degree Celsius mark in the city.
What brought cheer to the city was that the rains in River Noyyal catchments resulted in good flow in the river. Sources in the Public Works Department and water-conservation NGO Siruthuli said that not just the river but also its canals were seeing good flow.
At the Chithirai Chavadi Anaicut, the flow was around 650 cusecs and near Ukkadam it was around 75 cusecs, the PWD sources said.
If the flow continued for the next few days almost all tanks that were part of the River Noyyal basin would see a drastic increase in water level. Right from Ukkulam to Big Tank, there was good inflow on Sunday, said Siruthuli’s project coordinator K. Mylswami.
Kurichi Tank Protection Committee member P. Arumugham said that as there was obstruction to the flow of water in the Kurichi Tank near Puttuvikki, the committee members deployed three heavy machinery to remove those so as to ensure flow of water. He expected water to flow into the tank by late Sunday evening.
Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore’s R. Raveendran said that with the PWD opening the sluices at the Coimbatore and Kuniamuthur weirs, there was water inflow in the Kuniamuthur and Coimbatore canals as well.
This would mean that the Perur Big Tank and Sengulam would get water from the Kuniamuthur Canal and the Ukkadam Big Tank would get water from the Coimbatore Canal. If the flow continued, the Ukkadam Big Tank would be full with water by Friday or so.
In Coimbatore, the rains kept the residents indoors as pothole-filled streets saw minimum traffic. Coimbatore Corporation sources said all the motors attached to the five railway underpasses and subways were on standby to drain out water.
But as the rain was steady and as there was no heavy and sudden downpour, there was very little inundation of subways or low-lying areas. The Corporation officials had successfully pumped out whatever water was there in Lanka Corner, Avinashi Road underpass, Kaleeswara Mill underpass, Kikani underpass and Sivananda Colony underpass.
The Fire and Rescue Services personnel said they too had not got any relief or rescue calls in the last 24 hours.
The district administration said Cicona witnessed the maximum rainfall - 70 mm - in the 24 hours that ended 8 a.m. Sunday, followed by Chinna Kallar - 52 mm, Valparai Taluk Office - 51 mm, Valparai PAP - 46 mm and the Airport (Peelamedu) - 26.80 mm.
The city and its periphery witnessed around 25 mm rainfall.
Meanwhile, tree fall due to heavy rain was reported in some parts of Valparai.
