THANJAVUR/ COIMBATORE: A breach in the bank of Kalyana Odai, an irrigation canal near Orathanadu, on Monday resulted in the inundation of roads and paddy fields in the vicinity. Kalyana Odai branches off from the Grand Anaicut canal (Puthu Aaru) at Kandithampattu village and passes through many villages before draining near Madukkur. With rain adding to the flow in the canal, Kalyana Odai was in spate and the left bank near Mela Ulur village was breached on Monday morning. The breach was more than 10 meters deep and water submerged paddy fields in several villages.
Besides, the water flowed on the roads in Mela Ulur including the Thanjavur-Pattukkottai road. Following this, the traffic was stopped for a while. Collector A Annadurai inspected the breach and said uprooting of teak and acacia trees on the banks of the canal caused the breach and efforts were on to avert the loss of life.
“Around 840 cusecs was flowing in the canal when the breach occurred. Following the breach, the water release from the head of Kalyana Odai was stopped and the work of plugging the breach commenced,” he said. He clarified that the entire water from the breach was passing through paddy fields but the habitations were not affected. The work of plugging the breach would be completed in two days, he said.
Meanwhile, the farmers whose fields were flooded with water from the breach were a worried a lot as their crops are young.
Tirupur district affected
The low-lying residential areas along the banks of the Noyyal river and its tributary in Tirupur were flooded following heavy rains in the district on Sunday night. Flood water breached the trenches and entered as many as 150 houses, rising to a level of at least two feet. Even as these areas were receiving excess flood during the monsoon season, no proper drainage facility was established in the area to clear the stagnated water.