RISING LEVEL: Houses at Bhavani partially submerged in flood water on Monday. — Photo: M .Govarthan

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CHENNAI: Widespread rain in the northern and central districts of Tamil Nadu and heavy inflows from Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh have led to flooding in the Cauvery, the Thenpennar and the Palar.

For the first time in 15 years, the Mettur reservoir received more than two lakh cusecs, forcing authorities to discharge water at the same rate, as the reservoir is full. Villages and towns on the riverbank in Dharmapuri, Salem, Erode, and Tiruchi districts were flooded on Monday.

As the discharge from the reservoir is expected to reach Grand Anaicut by Tuesday, a flood warning has been issued in Thanjvur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam districts. A 24-hour monitoring cell has been opened in Mettur.

Contingency plan

Chief Minister Jayalalithaa reviewed the situation with Ministers and officials at the Secretariat here and drew up a contingency plan.

Public Works Department sources said that they planned to divert two thirds of flood water to the Coleroon below Upper Anaicut, and the rest of the flood water to the Cauvery.

All Cauvery districts from Mettur to the delta have been alerted on the possibility of inundation.

Collectors have been given instructions to evacuate people from vulnerable areas.

Water let through the Cauvery would be diverted to Grand Anaicut Canal system, which had a large number of tanks. However, it would not be possible to divert water from the Coleroon to Veeranam tank, which was fast filling up.

Veeranam tank "safe"

A majority of jungle streams in and around Cuddalore district received heavy inflow, which would reach Veeranam ultimately.

To avoid breach in the Veeranam tank, officials were planning to let the water into the Bay of Bengal. Officials insisted that the tank was safe.

An Indian Air Force helicopter from the Sulur Air Base was pressed into service on the direction of Chief Minister Jayalalithaa to rescue 27 villagers, including a hundred-and-five-year-old woman and a six-month-old boy from Athukkadu near Salem.

The village, situated on an elevated plateau near the river course, has remained marooned since Sunday night. On Monday morning, the people on the banks spotted villagers shouting for help.

A team of fire commandos rushed to the spot but could not reach the villagers due to the strong current. After a two hour-long battle, the help of the IAF was sought. In one sortie, the IAF crew brought all 27 marooned villagers to Mettur.

The Palar had a surface flow after a gap of several years. Although there was no threat of flooding, officials have been told to keep a close watch on the inflow from various tributaries. According to an official release, 460 houses, including 175 huts, were inundated in Erode district owing to heavy floods in Cauvery. All the residents have been evacuated and relief measures provided.

Nearly 150 houses were submerged in Oruvanthur in Namakkal district.

Overflowing water from tanks entered Pachapatti in Salem submerging about 500 tiled houses and huts.

Roads damaged

As roads were damaged in Dharmapuri and Krishnagiri districts, the Chief Minister directed the Highways Department officials to immediately attend to road repair works and traffic restoration.

The Krishnagiri Collector has been instructed to provide accommodation and food to those moved to shelters. As there have been breaches in irrigation tanks fed by Thenpennaiar, the Chief Minister directed officials to attend to them immediately.

Forecast

Rain or thundershower is likely to occur in many places over Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry. Heavy rainfall or isolated heavy rain is likely over Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry.

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