Heavy rain disrupts life in Ramanathapuram district

For the first time since the onset of northeast monsoon on October 17, Ramanathapuram received the highest rainfall of 110 mm

Students of Vallal Pari Municipal school campus wade through stagnant rain water in Ramanathapuram on Saturday.

Normal life was hit as heavy rain lashed several parts of Ramanathapuram district on Friday night, inundating residential and low-lying areas, uprooting trees and electric poles, and disrupting power supply.

For the first time since the onset of northeast monsoon on October 17, the district headquarters received the highest rainfall of 110 mm. The district received total rainfall of 803.80 mm with an average of 50.24 mm, officials said, citing rainfall figures at 6 a.m. on Saturday.

The incessant rain throughout Friday night inundated several residential areas, including Bharathi Nagar, Omsakthi Nagar, Mahasakthi Nagar, Sethupathy Nagar and Nehru Nagar, forcing people to remain indoors or wade through knee deep water.

No injury or casualty was reported from anywhere in the district, police and revenue officials said. An aged woman escaped unhurt when the outer wall of her house collapsed, they said.

Schools closed

Though most of the schools were closed, Class X and XII students, attending special classes, had a tough time reaching the water logged schools. Some of the private schools declared holiday.

At least five electric poles near the Customs office fell after a couple of trees fell on the power lines. The Armed Reserve Police ground was covered in a sheet of water.

Farmers were happy as it rained throughout the district, including Kamuthi and Mudukulathur blocks, which had been witnessing dry spell during the past one week.

Officials said farmers had taken up paddy cultivation in about 1.25 lakh hectares and the crops were 45 to 70 days old. As the crops have almost reached flowering stage, stagnation of rain water would not harm the crops, they said. There would be fast movement of fertilisers in the coming days, they said.

The district had been receiving widespread rainfall during this monsoon season, after a gap of almost seven years, they said. The more than 3,000 water bodies, including minor irrigation tanks and farm ponds, were filling up fast, officials said. Ramanathapuram received highest rainfall of 110 mm, followed by Rameswaram, 110.20 mm, Thangachimadam, 80 mm, Valinokkam 74 mm and Kadaladi 69 mm. This was the second highest rainfall in the district since the onset of monsoon after the district had received 1,101.63 mm on October 21.