1200 families in TN's Erode moved to safety

Valparai in Coimbatore district is worst affected

With rains pounding the catchment areas of the Cauvery and Bhavani rivers, and a huge amount of excess water being released from dams in Karnataka and Kerala, more than 1,200 families in Erode district have been moved to safer places.

Valparai in Coimbatore district has been the worst hit due to heavy rain in the Nilgiris with almost the entire town going under water.

A flood alert has been issued at Salem, Erode, Namakkal, Karur and the Cauvery delta districts due to heavy inflow into Mettur and Bhavani Sagar dams in Mettur and Bhavani, respectively, even as heavy rain continued to lash Tirunelveli and Kanniyakumari districts early on Thursday.

Valparai, the picturesque hill station in Coimbatore district, has been worst-hit due to continuous rain. Most streets in the town have been flooded and are so are the agricultural lands, according to reports.

With the outflow from Mettur and Bhavani at 1.45 lakh cusecs and 47,000 cusecs, respectively, district authorities quickly moved more than 1,200 families to safety to various relief camps in Erode and Namakkal districts.

As many as 1,200 families in Sathyamangalam, Gobichettipalayam and Bhavani towns in Erode district have been moved to safety since Wednesday night. Standing crops in hundreds of acres were submerged in these areas.

Officials said the reason for flooding in the district was due to the overflowing Cauvery and Bhavani rivers that converge at Bhavani town. Separately, more than 100 families were evacuated to safety in Kanniyakumari district as heavy rain continued to pound catchment areas of Pechiparai and Perunjanai dams.

All major dams in the state have either achieved their full reservoir level (FRL) or are at the verge of attaining the maximum storage level due to heavy rain in Kerala. Majority of the rivers in Coimbatore district are in spate due to the heavy inflow of water from Kerala, which may witness a fresh spell of rain till Saturday.

Though most of the reservoirs in the district are also brimming with water, Tirunelveli Collector Shilpa Prabhakar Satish told DH that the situation does not warrant evacuation of people.

“The river can handle the inflow and though the reservoirs are brimming with water, we have taken enough precautionary measures and are ready to handle any situation,” she said, adding that SDRF teams and revenue officials are on standby for any eventuality.