COIMBATORE: Moderate to heavy rains lashed several parts of the Western region on Thursday forcing people to stay indoors.
Vehicle movement was disrupted for over an hour on Ooty-Kotagiri Road due to a tree fall in rain. As it remained misty, the vehicles kept their headlights on during the day, while moving through the ghat road.
Rains played spoilsport with the plans of tourists, while residents were forced to stay indoors due to the biting cold and they lit fires to keep themselves warm. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) train from Ooty was delayed by half an hour due to a tree fall on the tracks in Ketti on the Coonoor-Ooty stretch.
Similarly, rains also lashed Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, Krishnagiri, Dharmapuri and other regions all through the day.
Meanwhile water level in the Mettur dam is gradually inching towards its full reservoir level following an increase in inflow due to copious rains in catchment areas.
Currently, the dam is less than three feet short of reaching its FRL of 120 feet. From 116.86 feet on Wednesday, the water level in the dam rose to 117.04 feet on Thursday morning.
At Biligundlu, the entry point of River Cauvery into Tamil Nadu, the water flow has increased from 5,500 cusecs on Wednesday, 6 am to 6,500 cusecs on Thursday, 8 am.
The Mettur dam realise an inflow of 4,727 cusecs, while 1300 cusecs of water have been released for delta and canal irrigation.