Nilgiris in a state of preparedness

A total of 456 camps have been kept ready in the district to accommodate people during flooding. Of them, 77 relief camps were in Pandalur and Gudalur taluks. During an emergency, the public can contact toll-free number 1077. So far, rains have not caused any major damage,” she said.

On Sunday night, Pandalur received 94 mm of rain and Gudalur 61 mm of rain. The Disaster Response Force was also stationed ready in the wake of neighbouring Kerala receiving torrential rains resulting in landslides and flooding.

Meanwhile, incessant rains in Kerala led to water storage levels going up in Siruvani Dam, a major source of drinking water in Coimbatore. The dam has reached 44 feet against its total storage level of 49.5 feet on Monday.

The increasing storage levels have brought some relief to the water managers, who hope that they can sail through this summer season without facing a water crisis. Amid demands to allow filling up of this dam being maintained by Kerala, the neighbouring state has restricted storage to five feet less than its full capacity due to safety concerns. In the last few days alone, the water was released a couple of times once the dam reached 44.5 feet.

The Mettur dam, which had storage of 72.860 feet as against its full capacity of 120 feet on October 1, had risen significantly to 91.320 feet on Monday morning due to a surge in inflow following incessant rains in catchment areas. The dam was receiving an inflow of 16,197 cusecs at 8 am on Monday.