Several low-lying areas in the city were inundated due to heavy flow of water in the Koraiyar and Kudamuritti rivers after many tanks in Viralimalai and Keranur in Pudukottai district and Manapparai in Tiruchi district started surplusing due to heavy rain over the past couple of days.
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The water flow in Koraiyar, which had a moderate flow of water until late evening on Sunday, began to increase overnight. It was in spate since early morning on Monday. It continued to remain so through the day on Monday, thereby leading to the heavy discharge of water into the Kudamuriti, which merges with the Cauvery near the city, at Puthur Weir.
The heavy flow of water in the Kudamuriti caused flooding in several low-lying areas in the city. A large number of houses in M.M. Nagar, Shanmuga Nagar, Srinivasa Nagar, Bankers’ Colony in Kumaran Nagar extension on Vaylur Road and Linga Nagar, Marudhankurichi, Selvam Nagar, Aravind Nagar, Fathima Nagar in Woraiyur were inundated.
While the inundation was scattered in the residential colonies of Kumaran Nagar, Srinivasa Nagar and Ammayapillai Nagar, almost all houses in Linga Nagar, Aravind Nagar, and Selvam Nagar were surrounded by knee-deep water, thereby causing severe hardship to residents. They had to wade through the water to buy essentials and commute to other parts of the city. Rainwater entered into several houses in Srinivasa Nagar.
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Similarly, water from the Koraiyar inundated residential colonies in Edamalaipattipudur, Ashok Nagar, Rajiv Gandhi Nagar, Gandhi Nagar and Krishna Nagar . The residents found it difficult to come out of their houses.
As the inundation brought back memories of the 2005 flood in Tiruchi, anxious people made a beeline to the Puthur weir near Kuzhumayi Amman Temple to take stock of the situation. As a precaution, some residents of M.M. Nagar and Shanmuga Nagar locked their houses after removing the household articles to lofts and the first floor. They then moved to their relatives’ houses.
“I had to move all items on the lower shelves to upper racks as rainwater entered my grocery shop. Water mixed with sewage has entered at least 25 houses in my locality,” said A. Selvan, who runs a grocery store in Srinivasa Nagar.
Collector S. Sivarasu, accompanied by Commissioner of Police, Tiruchi, G. Karthikeyan and Corporation Commissioner P.M.N. Mujibur Rahuman, visited various flood-hit areas. They held a discussion at the PWD weir near Kuzhumayi Amman Temple with PWD officials on the steps to be taken to deal with the situation.
Mr. Sivarasu told The Hindu that the Koraiyar was in spate mainly due to heavy flow of water from various tanks near Viralimalai. Water had been coming from a few jungle streams in the Manapparai region. The situation was under control and there was no cause for alarm. Water flow started receding in the afternoon. However, all departments had been put on alert due to forecast of further rain.
Mr. Rahuman said the entire men and machinery of the Corporation were out in the field to drain out water from the low-lying areas. About 1,500 food packets were distributed to residents in Edamalaipattipudur, Linga Nagar and other affected areas.