With river Cauvery in spate, the Karur district administration has started moving people living in low-lying areas or those residing adjacent to the banks of the river to safer places on Monday. Already, several families displaced by the floods have been accommodated in shelters and provided rations.
The Jedarpalayam bed regulator on the western border of the district recorded 1.13 lakh cusecs (cubic feet per second) of water flow late on Monday evening, while the Kattalai bed regulator at Mayanur on the eastern side registered around 90,000 cusecs. At Mukkombu (Upper Anicut), the flow was 54,000 cusecs. More water flow is forecast for the days ahead with Mettur dam registering copious inflow.
But, an official in Chennai said the outflow from Karnataka reservoirs went down to 75,000 cusecs. Reduction in inflow to the Mettur dam was expected from Tuesday.
District Collector S. Jayandhi and her official team inspected various bathing ghats and low-lying areas and advised people to move to safer places along with their cattle and essential belongings. PWD and revenue officials are monitoring the situation round-the-clock. Police have opened a 24-hour flood control phone for tracking the developments.
Water level continued to rise through Monday in Cauvery with officials maintaining a close watch all through.
Sand quarries in areas such as Vangal, Nerur, Kattalai, Lalapet and Maruthur have been closed down. There is no possibility of sand quarrying for the next few days.
Due to scarcity of sand, there is a rush of trucks in the second sale point and truckers say the selling price of sand has shot up in destinations such as Erode, Tiruppur and Coimbatore markets.
