Incessant drizzle and heavy showers reported in the catchment areas of the Periyar and Vagai dams for the past three days brought the highest inflow of the season to both the dams.
As the water level in the Periyar dam touched the permissible level of 136 feet for the first time in two years, the Public Works Department began discharging flood waters from the Vaigai reservoir for the second time within 20 days, on Sunday.
Following the huge flow of water in the Vaigai that submerged causeways in Madurai, the police and the Fire and Rescue Service personnel were deployed on both sides of the river for rescue operation. The district administration of Virudhunagar has declared holiday for the schools on Monday owing to inclement weather.
Water level in the Periyar dam touched the 136 feet level at 4 p.m. after the dam received an inflow of 15,000 cusecs (as reported at 6 a.m.). Though the inflow got reduced gradually and came down to around 2,000 cusecs at 8 p.m., the storage kept soaring due to the limitation in drawal of water on the Tamil Nadu side. Only 1,822 cusecs was being drawn through pipelines. The Periyar dam had last surplussed in 2009.
The Vaigai dam got the highest inflow of 19,000 cusecs (as reported at 5 a.m.). The dam level that stood at 67.65 feet (71 feet) at 6 a.m. went up to 68.22 feet at 2 p.m. following which PWD officials began to discharge over 8,000 cusecs from the dam. “We did not want to take risk during the night. Hence, we began to discharge the entire water flowing into the dam. The inflow is being watched on an hourly basis and water flow will be regulated accordingly,” a senior engineer said.
Meanwhile, the police have banned entry of vehicles on the causeways after about 7,000 cusecs of water submerged the causeways across the Vaigai river by a foot. “We have posted trained swimmers at important places on both sides of the river to rescue people,” the District Fire Officer, K. Karuppaiah, said.
Flash floods
Heavy rain reported in Sivakasi and Vembakottai blocks in the evening marooned around 20 houses in Kundayiruppu village near Sivakasi. “We have arranged safe accommodation for them in a school,” the Virudhunagar Collector, M. Balaji, said.
Heavy rain along the Western Ghats resulted in flash floods in the Ayyanar odai near Rajapalayam on Sunday evening. Fire and Rescue personnel rescued at least 14 persons from Chennai, Madurai and Virudhunagar district who were caught on the other side of the wild stream. Similarly, 10 devotees, who had been to the Sri Sundara Mahalingam temple atop the hills near Saptur, were stranded. Forest Range Officer (Saptur), M. Karumalayam, led a team that rescued them on Sunday.
Rainfall
Kodaikanal received the highest rainfall of 79.6 mm, followed by Tekkadi 67.2, Shanmuganadi 65, Veerapandi 52, Marudhanadi 50, Uthamapalayam 45, Periyar dam 43.2, Manjalar dam 43, Sothuparai dam and Andipatti 40 mm each, Gudalur 30.6, Vaigai dam 28, Peranai 27, Mettupatti 21, Thaniyamangalam 19, Idayapatti 16.2, Madurai and Viraghanoor 16 mm each, Sattaiyar dam 14, Kuppanampatti 10 mm. Many other southern districts, including Ramanathapuram, Tirunelveli, Tuticorin, Dindigul and Theni, were experiencing heavy inflow, officials said.
