No need for panic in catchment areas of dams: Monitoring Officer

October 18, 2021 07:37 pm | Updated 07:39 pm IST - TIRUNELVELI

Tirunelveli District Monitoring Officer Apoorva and Collector V. Vishnu inspecting Kaaraiyaaru dam on Monday

Tirunelveli District Monitoring Officer Apoorva and Collector V. Vishnu inspecting Kaaraiyaaru dam on Monday

Since influx of water into dams has subsided considerably after decrease in rainfall in catchment areas of reservoirs, there is no need for panic about flash floods in the Tamirabharani, Monitoring Officer for the district Apoorva has said.

After the water level in Papanasam dam — the second largest reservoir in the district — rose to 136 feet in the 48 hours ending at 8 a.m. on Monday following heavy downpour in catchment areas, the Monitoring Officer and Collector V. Vishnu inspected the water body on Monday. Though areas close to the Western Ghats received significant rainfall, those away from the hills did not experience good rainfall.

Areas such as Manjolai, Gothaiyar and the catchment areas of Manimuthar and Papanasam dams recorded heavy rainfall of up to 275 mm on Sunday. Consequently, the water level in Papanasam dam that stood at 94 feet on Monday last has now touched 136 feet against the maximum storage level of 143 feet.

Ms. Apoorva, after inspecting the storage level in the dam along with Mr. Vishnu, said Papanasam and Servalar dams were getting huge influx of water, while Manimuthar, Vadakku Pachchaiyar, Kodumudiyar and Nambiyar dams were getting insignificant influx. As rainfall in the catchment areas of Papanasam dam had receded considerably, the inflow had also come down from 20,000 cusecs to 6,000 cusecs.

“When 65,000 cusecs of water was discharged from Papanasam, Manimuthar and Gadana dams in mid-January, the river experienced heavy flooding. The situation is now totally under control and there is no fear of floods in the Tamirabharani since Papanasam alone is getting decent influx of water,” Ms. Apoorva said.

Mr. Vishnu said precautionary measures had been taken in all 88 low-lying areas close to the Tamirabharani and 127 relief centres were ready to receive people within a short notice. Well-trained State Disaster Rescue Force teams, which had been stationed at Vickramasingapuram, could be deployed in any part of the district.

Superintendent of Police N. Manivannan, Cheranmahadevi Sub-Collector Siva Krishnamurthy and District Revenue Officer A. Perumal were present.

In Kanniyakumari district that witnessed 33 cm rainfall on Sunday, Monitoring Officer Jothi Nirmala chaired a review meeting along with Collector M. Aravind and inspected rain-hit areas on Monday.

She said paddy cultivated on 30 acres, plantain covering 125 acres and tapioca on 2.50 acres were submerged in flood waters. While plantain and tapioca could be salvaged by draining the water, paddy had suffered extensive damage.

“Since storage level in the dams is constantly monitored, discharge of water is done based on the influx of water so that damage can be controlled. Crop damage assessment will be done soon to give appropriate compensation to farmers. Roads damaged in the rain will be repaired once the rain stops,” Ms. Jothi Nirmala said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.