The district administrations in Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Ranipet and Tirupattur are on high alert as most of the waterbodies in these districts are reaching their full capacity.
A round-the-clock special desk with helpline numbers (1077; 04175-232377) was set up at the Collectorate in Tiruvannamalai on Saturday to receive rain related complaints. Most of the 1,886 waterbodies, including 600 PWD-maintained irrigation tanks in Tiruvannamalai district, are nearing full capacity. Key agricultural areas in the district including Polur, Arani, Cheyyar and Chengam have been receiving good rain for the past few days.
Several other areas including Vellore town, Katpadi, Gudiyatham, Anaicut in Vellore, Arakkonam, Arcot, Walajah and Sholinghur in Ranipet, Vanniyambadi, Ambur and Natrampalli in Tirupatur also witnessed continuous rain. A complete ban on crossing Palar river, check dams, low level bridges, has been imposed in Vellore, Ranipet and Tirupattur districts.
In Vellore, decades-old concrete houses in Virinjipuram village along the Palar were demolished by the Public Works Department as they could collapse any time. Demolition of houses along the river was ordered by Vellore Collector P. Kumaravel Pandian after he inspected the causeway which was built across the river connecting Virinjipuram village with Gudiyatham. So far, 19 houses have been washed away by the river in Vellore since November 1.
Another causeway, built across the river in Ulli village in Vellore district, was also damaged due to the rain. These two causeways enabled people to reach Gudiyatham from Anaicut region quickly. Mr. Pandian said new causeways would be built in these villages.
Heavy rain in recent weeks also brought cheer to the water-starved Vellore City Corporation area as Otteri lake, a key water source for the local body, reached its full capacity.
Most of the waterbodies, including 369 irrigation tanks in Ranipet district, have reached their full capacity.
Areas closer to Chennai such as Arakkonam, Nemeli and Sholinghur (which together have 677 water bodies) have more than one third of waterbodies reaching their total capacity, with another 20% reaching over 75% of their total capacity.
Medical camps
Special medical camps for cattle were also organised on Saturday in Arcot taluk with 240 cattle, mainly milch cows, being treated for various ailments. More than 20 such camps were being conducted in Ranipet district covering areas like Thimiri, Arakkonam, Kaveripakkam and Arcot since November 1. The farmers' grievances meeting will be held on November 30 at 3 p.m in Ranipet Collectorate.
With the release of excess rainwater from Kalavagunta dam in Chittoor district and inflows from tributaries of Ponnai and Palar rivers, 4,948 cusecs and 8,695 cusecs of water were released from Poonai and Palar anaicut respectively as of 7 p.m.