Heavy rain continues to batter Kovai, landslips reported in The Nilgiris

Due to the heavy downpour, the tiled roofing of a house collapsed in Valparai in Coimbatore district on Sunday night, injuring a resident, identified as Uma. She was rescued by her neighbours, who rushed her to a hospital.

In another incident, a portion of the compound wall of the Gudalur government hospital in The Nilgiris district collapsed, due to a landslip triggered by the downpour. Also, a portion of Gudalur main road cavedin in the middle. Resources have been kept ready to tackle emergencies in the hills.

Meanwhile, residents along the banks of Bhavani continued to face flood threat for the second consecutive day as the river was in spate.

Torrential rains in catchment areas have led to heavy inflow into the Pillur dam, which has now reached 97.25 feet as against its full capacity of 100 feet. About 14,000 cusecs was being released from the dam, which was on par with the inflow, to maintain a constant level and to ease pressure on the reservoir.

Special squads, comprising police and revenue officials, and fire and rescue personnel, were monitoring the course of the water body as a precautionary measure.

Villagers have been alerted about the flooding in Bhavani through public announcements. The Coimbatore district administration declared a holiday for schools and colleges in Valparai taluk on Monday.

The storage in dams rose sharply and the level in the Sholayar dam stood at 92 feet on Monday. From 52.30 feet on Saturday, the level rose by 28 feet to reach 80 feet on Sunday.

The dam’s capacity is 160 feet.

Similarly, the storage in Siruvani dam, a major source of drinking water to Coimbatore, rose from 15 feet to 24 feet in the last two days. TWAD board officials said that the dam would reach its full capacity of 50 feet in the next few days, if rains continued at the same level.

Incessant rains also gave life to Noyyal River, which is gushing above the bridge in Perur. However, farmers claimed that blocks in Raja Vaikal were preventing water from Noyyal river to flow into the Vellalore tank. They petitioned the Collector to remove the silt and blocks on the pathway to ensure free flow into the dry tank.

Meanwhile, tourists were barred from entering Kovai Kutralam and Monkey falls for the third consecutive day due to heavy flooding.