A 5-year-old girl is feared to have been washed away in flash floods in Sholayar in the small hours of Friday, triggered by heavy rains over the last 24 hours, said Revenue Department sources in the district.
Following heavy rains, a heavy rock was displaced leading to diversion of a part of Sholayar water into a settlement of 20 families in Sarcarpathy in Anamalai Tiger Reserve around 2.30 a.m. Friday. While most of the families there managed to escape and in the one family that was the most affected, the couple managed to escape but not the girl, the sources said.
Revenue Department officials along with the Coimbatore Rural Police and Fire and Rescue Services personnel were on the job of tracing the girl, the sources said.
The impact of continuous rain over in the 24 hours that ended 8 a.m. Friday had been that the district administration had to move 90 persons to safety to the Government Arts College in Valparai, and a like number to a school and wedding hall in Mettupalayam following heavy discharge of water from the Pilloor Reservoir into River Bhavani.
Sources in Mettupalayam said that the Tangedco that managed the Pilloor Reservoir was releasing 70,000 cusecs as of Friday morning. This was, however, less than what was being released on Thursday evening.
Collector K. Rajamani said water flow at 4,250 cusecs in River Noyyal was on the higher side. Revenue Department officials in the city along with Coimbatore Corporation officials have asked people living on the River banks in the city to be cautious and move to safe places.
Coimbatore Corporation officials said that at the three railway underpasses in the city – Lanka Corner, Kaleeswara Mill and Kikani School – they had pumped out the stagnant water to help flow of vehicles.
On Thursday night, an auto rickshaw and a car got stuck in the stagnant waters at the Kikani School underpass.
The city also saw tree fall in Ramnagar and on West Club Road. The Corporation officials removed the trees.
The Corporation sources said they teams led by Assistant Commissioners of the zones were monitoring flow of water in all natural drains in their respective drains and attending to complaints of choked drains so as to prevent inundation of houses.
The rainfall recorded in the 24 hours that ended 8 a.m. Friday was as follows – Annur 43mm, Coimbatore Airport 106.4mm, Mettupalayam 44mm, Cincona 315mm, Chinnakalar 372mm, Valparai PAP areas 259mm, Valparai taluk 260mm, Sholayar 282mm, Aliyar 165.4mm, Sulur 98.3mm, Pollachi 160mm, Coimbatore South 120mm, P.N. Palayam 93mm, TNAU 130mm.
