Tense moments prevailed in the city on Tuesday as water level rose in River Noyyal following heavy rain in the upstream as well as due to widespread encroachments that extend well into the water body and indiscriminate dumping of wastes into it.
The water entered 15 houses in Royapuram situated on the edge of the river. However, no significant damages were reported from any part of the city.
The revenue and the police officials patrolled many areas to find whether the water level was rising and to check the contingency steps drawn to evacuate people in the case of an emergency.
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It should be noted that nine persons living on the banks of River Noyyal and its tributaries passing, all of them residents in encroached dwellings, were killed in floods occurred in 2011. The revenue administration, disaster management and mitigation department sources said that the district received 304.7 mm rainfall, with an average of 43.53 mm, in the 24 hours ended at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. Following is the rainfall recorded at various places: Udumalpet — 123 mm; Avinashi — 40 mm; Tirupur — 42 mm; Palladam — 75.50 mm; Dharapuram — 3 mm; Kangayam — 6.2 mm and Mulanur — 15 mm. The inflow into Amarvathi Dam was not encouraging due to poor rain in its catchments in Kerala.