With Cauvery, Kollidam in spate, govt. agencies remain on high alert

People in some low lying areas along river banks moved to temporary shelters in Karur, Tiruchi, Mayiladuthurai

A deserted look at Vazhavandapuram on the Kollidam river bank on the outskirts of Tiruchi on Friday after a section of residents locked their homes to stay in a nearby wedding hall in the view of heavy rise in water level. | Photo Credit: M. SRINATH

With more than two lakh cusecs of water flowing across the Upper Anicut at Mukkombu near here, government agencies, including Revenue, Police and Water Resource departments, continued to remain on high alert in Tiruchi and neighbouring districts on Friday.

Officials monitor Cauvery water level at Amma Mandapam in Srirangam on Friday. | Photo Credit: M. Moorthy

With both the Cauvery and Kollidam in spate, a close vigil was being maintained along the rivers in Tiruchi and the delta districts. The Water Resources Department (WRD) continued to divert a substantial portion of the surplus discharge from the Mettur Reservoir into the Kollidam river at Upper Anicut. Residents from low lying areas along the rivers were moved to temporary shelters as a precautionary measure in some of the districts in the region.

Although the discharge from the Mettur Dam came down from over two lakh cusecs to about 1.84 lakh cusecs during the day, the realisation at the Upper Anicut stood at about 2.17 lakh cusecs at 4 p.m.on Friday. Of this, 1,43,747 cusecs of water was diverted into the Kollidam river and the rest was flowing in the Cauvery.

WRD officials expect the realisation to come down gradually by Saturday, corresponding to the fall in the quantum of discharge from Mettur.

In Tiruchi district, about 310 residents in low-lying areas such as Vazhavanthapuram at Bishandarkovil; K.V.Pettai, Alangudi Mahajanam; Thiruparaithurai, Madhavaperumal Kovil and Perugamani were moved to temporary shelters. Another 300 residents in Thavittupalayam and few other villages were accommodated at temporary shelters in Karur district. In Mayiladuthurai district, affected residents in Alakudi and Thulachandrapuram in Kollidam taluk were accommodated in temporary shelters.

Ministers, Monitoring Officers and Collectors, along with senior WRD and Revenue officials, fanned out to various parts of the disstricts to inspect the river courses, safety measures, the vulnerable areas and the temporary shelters.

In Tiruchi, Municipal Administration Minister K.N.Nehru, along with K.Manivasan, Monitoring Officer, and M.Pradeep Kumar, Collector, took stock of the situation at Mukkombu and other places. Mr.Nehru, who distributed relief to the people in the temporary shelters, said the residents would be allowed to return home once the flow in the rivers come down.About 100 acres of paddy fields were inundated in Lalgudi block, he said.

Answering a query, Mr.Nehru said that the Cauvery river bund at Moolathoppu in Srirangam, where a small stretch of the retaining wall had collapsed and reinforced recently, was withstanding the heavy discharge well.

Minister for Environment Siva.V.Meyyanathan, along with R.Lalitha, Collector, and other officials, inspected the precautionary measures being taken in the low lying areas at Alakudi, Nathalpadugai, Gopalasamudram, Vellamanal, Manalmedu Thittu, Adhanur and Kumarangalam check dam in Mayiladuthurai district. Residents from low lying areas have been moved to two shelters and provided food, he said.

In Thanjavur district, Minister for School Education Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi reviewed the situation by visiting various parts of the district, including a temporary shelter at Koviladi panchayat, along with Collector Dinesh Ponraj Oliver.