Flood alert issued for 9 districts in TN

With the inflow of water into Mettur Dam expected to reach 1.40 lakh cusecs by Wednesday evening, the Tamil Nadu government on Tuesday issued flood warnings to nine districts and asked them to take precautionary measures.

The flood alert was issued to Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri, Salem, Erode, Namakkal, Karur, Trichy, Thanjavur and Nagapattinam districts following an advisory from the Central Water Commission that predicted heavy discharge of water from Krishnarajasagar and Kabini reservoirs in Karnataka.

The Mettur Dam, whose storage capacity is 120 feet, reached its full reservoir level (FRL) on Saturday and the entire amount of water being received is being discharged. The Stanley reservoir in Mettur reached its FRL for the second time in 20 days – the dam last reached its FRL in 2013.

“We have received the advisory asking us to take precautionary measures to ensure that there is no untoward incident. Since the realisation of water (1.40 lakh cusecs) is expected to be achieved on Wednesday evening, we will complete evacuation of 20 families who live in low-lying areas as early as possible,” Salem district collector Rohini R R Bhajibhakare told DH.

She said authorities at the Stanley Reservoir in Mettur are monitoring the situation round the clock and are sharing real-time information with officials from all nine districts, Rohini said, adding that the inflow into the dam on Tuesday was 85,000 cusecs.

Besides Salem, another 400 people will be evacuated in Namakkal and Erode districts by Wednesday morning as they live in vulnerable areas along the Cauvery river, officials said. Water released from Mettur is the lifeline of farmers in Cauvery delta region who depend on the water for cultivation of Samba and Kuruvai crops.

On Sunday, nearly 400 people were evacuated and lodged in relief centres in Salem, Namakkal and Erode districts after flood water entered the streets where they were living.

Authorities in all nine districts, a top state government official said, have been asked to take necessary precautionary measures to ensure that people living in low-lying areas are shifted to safer locations.