COONOOR/TIRUPUR/DHARMAPURI/SALEM: Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami on Thursday enquired about the situation prevailing in The Nilgiris over a phone call and advised the Collector Innocent Divya to inspect areas affected by floods and take up relief works.
Based on the instructions, the Collector said, a team visited the relief camps in Kundah Bridge, Kanneri Manthanai and Emerald, and relief materials were distributed. The Monitoring Officer (The Nilgiris) Supriya Sahu, who was part of the team, said that precautionary measures have been put in place based on a forecast of heavy rains made by the weather department until August 8.
Sahu said that so far nearly 900 persons have been accommodated in various relief camps.
"In particular, those living in low-lying areas have been shifted to the relief camps," she said.
The Collector added that trees fallen on power lines and roads are being removed by disaster management teams and fire and rescue personnel.
According to reports, a landslide was reported in Emerald, besides the washing away of large areas of meadows in the locality.
The district reported 3223.4 mm rainfall during the last 24 hours (till 6.30 am) on Thursday. The power supply was disrupted for a long duration in several localities in the district due to damages to the overhead power lines.
Banana plantations destroyed in Tirupur
Strong winds coupled with rains on Thursday evening destroyed many banana plantations in various villages in Avinashi on Thursday evening. According to sources, fully grown banana trees were found completely uprooted in several villages in Avinashi taluk. Several plantations in M Nathampalayam, Nambiyampalayam, Kaanur, Thekkalur were completely destroyed. Many villages with small banana plantations in Kalipalayam and Mudiyar were also affected in Perumanallur.
Speaking to TNIE, an official from district administration said, "This is the second time such large scale damage is reported within a year. In the last week of May, there was extensive damage."
Revenue Inspectors and Village Administrative Officers (VAOs) will assess the scale of damage in every village and submit a report to Tirupur Collector for claiming compensation, sources said.
Hogenekkal water level rises
The water level in Hogenakkal has risen to 26,000 cusecs, said an official in the Hogenakkal drinking water project. Since the early hours of Thursday water levels have been gradually increasing in Hogenakkal, the official said and attributed the increase to release of water from Kabini and Krishnasagar dams in Karnataka. The rains in the catchment areas also caused the surge in water level and it will increase in the coming days, the official said.
Water from K'taka reaches Mettur dam
Water released from dams of Karnataka reached the Stanley reservoir on Thursday evening. While the inflow to the reservoir was 6,000 cusecs at 5.05 pm, it is expected to increase to more than 40,000 cusecs on Friday morning, sources said. Karnataka is releasing 46,000 cusecs of water, according to sources. On Thursday morning, the water level in the reservoir stood at 64.20 ft against its full capacity 120 ft. Around 3,000 cusecs of water are released from the dam for delta irrigation.