With water discharged from Stanley Reservoir in Mettur into River Cauvery stepped up to over one lakh cusecs on Saturday evening, the Erode district administration has cautioned people living in the close vicinity of the river and in low-lying areas while officials monitor the situation round-the-clock.
The river enters Erode district atNerinjipettai and flows through Ammapettai, Bhavani, Karungalpalayam, Kodumudi and enters Karur district. With the inflow at the reservoir continuing to be 1.15 lakh cusecs, and the discharge stepped up during the day, revenue officials continued to issue alerts to people living near the river banks at Nerinjipettai, Bhavani, Karungalpalayam and Kodumudi.
Revenue officials said that a warning was issued to the people using tom-toms, public address systems and by direct visit of the officials from Friday night and it continued during the day also.
They were asked to not enter the river for any purpose or take selfie from bridges across the river. Fishermen have been cautioned as water flow kept increasing.
Officials from the revenue, police and a few other departments have been closely monitoring the water flow in the river and have been issuing warnings to the people regularly. Also, policemen were posted near the bridges to prevent people from gathering.
Collector H. Krishnanunni told The Hindu that a disaster management plan was worked out and officials were asked to work accordingly to ensure safety of people and property.
He said that relief camps were established in schools and marriage halls at required areas and people will be shifted to the camps only if the discharge is increased or if the need arises. “So far, no issues were reported and officials continue to warn people and monitor the situation round-the-clock”, he added.
