With both the River Cauvery and River Bhavani in spate, a total of 1,200 families in low-lying areas were moved to safe locations in Erode district on Thursday.
Currently, 50,000 cusecs of water is released from Bhavani Sagar dam into River Bhavani causing flooding in Sathyamangalam, Gobichettipalayam and Bhavani areas. Over 800 families in these areas were moved to safe locations and were accommodated in schools and marriage halls, while a few had moved to their relative’s houses.
Standing crops in hundreds of acres were submerged in these areas while agricultural wells and borewells were also not left behind. At 8 a.m., the water level in Bhavani Sagar dam stood at 101.75 feet against the full level of 105 feet, while the inflow was 39,276 cusecs and the outflow 47,700 cusecs into the river and 2,300 cusecs into the canal. The storage was 30.116 tmc against the capacity of 32.800 tmc.
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Bhavani River converges with River Cauvery at Bhavani town, which has increased the flooding. This has resulted in River Cauvery carrying 2.28 lakh cusecs of water as houses, crops and coconut trees located in low-lying areas and also in high altitude areas were submerged, causing panic among the people as revenue officials and police personnel warned them to move out of their places.
District Revenue Officer S. Kavitha told The Hindu that food and drinking water were distributed to affected people in the district while health teams were also in place to monitor their conditions. Since more water discharge from Mettur Dam is likely, vulnerable areas were being identified and people would be moved to safer locations soon, she added.
Vehicle movement on the bridges constructed across River Cauvery in Bhavani and near Parisal Thurai was banned forcing the motorists to take alternative routes. Warning boards were placed near the river at many places asking people not to enter the river as officials continue to monitor the flow.
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