Heavy rain submerges paddy in delta districts

The delta districts have been witnessing incessant rainfall for the past two days and the heavy rain coupled with strong wind damaged paddy in most of the places. More than 1,000 acre land has been submerged in Thanjavur, Thiruvaiyaru, Papanasam and Kumbakonam.

“Due to the heavy rain, the entire paddy has been submerged and we fear that they would be damaged and the water is hard to drain owing to poor desilt work in the storm water drains,” said S Kumaresan, a farmer at Papanasam.

Since there was heavy rain in the districts like Thanjavur, Tiruvarur and Nagapattinam, the surplus water flowing along the canals was diverted to Kollidam to prevent any damage to the samba cultivation, but the rain water already submerged paddy in the districts like Thanajvur and Tiruvarur. The farmers claimed that at least one lakh acre of samba cultivation would be damaged if the rain continues for a week.

Meanwhile, the continuous rain damaged four houses in the delta region. Sources said that the house of Prakash(40) of Uthamanur in Thiruvaiyaru had collapsed due to the continuous rain on Wednesday. The house that collapsed fell onto the neighbour’s house of Kavitha (40). However, those living there  escaped with mild injuries.

Similarly, the house of Subramanian (50) of Koothaipar near Tiruverumbur in Tiruchy collapsed after the building became weak owing to the soaking condition. The neighbouring house owned by one Sakthivel also collapsed.

Heavy rain continued to bring misery as huge boulders rolled down to block Coonoor Road, disrupting traffic for over two hours in the Nilgiris on Wednesday.

Two huge boulders rolled down from a height of 50 feet to fall on Coonoor Road at Karumbalam, resulting in cracks on the stretch. Luckily, any loss of life was averted as there were no vehicles on the road when the boulders came falling down.

On receiving information, the Highways Department rushed to the spot and took efforts to remove the boulders by breaking them. Traffic was resumed after about two hours.

Meanwhile, a car got damaged when a huge tree fell on it in Mary’s Hill area.  In old Ooty area, another huge tree got uprooted and fell on the house of one Fathima injuring her. With rain pouring out continuously over the last couple of days, the NMR train services were also disrupted.

A small portion of the train got damaged as a branch of a tree fell on the train bound to Ooty from Mettupalayam. The train resumed its journey after a long delay after the fallen branches of the trees were cleared from the track.

However, tourists were disappointed as train services were cancelled in its return journey after a huge tree got uprooted on the track near Aruvankadu. Officials said that the train service may resume once the fallen trees and mud are cleared off the tracks.

In Coimbatore, a temporary bridge connecting Perur and Vedapatty areas was submerged in Noyyal river.

Heavy rain continued to lash Vellore and Tiruvannamalai districts and four huts collapsed in Vandavasi taluk on Wednesday. Schools and colleges in both the districts continued to remain shut for the second day.

The walls of four huts in Mazhaiyur, Irumpuli and Vadakupattu in Vandavasi taluk collapsed due to heavy rain and the damage was inspected by local Revenue officials. The officials are geared to combat any rain-related emergencies and so far no casualties have been reported from both the districts.

The officials said that Tiruvannamalai district recorded 681.90 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Wednesday with Kalasapakkam receiving the maximum of 143 mm followed by Kilpennathur with 67 mm and Polur with 61 mm. Sathanur dam received the lowest of 36.20 mm rainfall with the dam presently filled to the depth of 87.80 feet against its full tank level (FTL) of 119 feet. The rain helped the temple tanks abutting the 14-kilometre-long Girivalam path near their brims.

Meanwhile, Vellore recorded 748.40 mm in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Wednesday, averaging 41.5 mm at the 18 rain gauge stations in the district. Sholingur received 138 mm, the highest rain in the district, followed by Ponani dam with 91.8 mm and Kaveripakkam with 68.20 mm. Natrampalli received the lowest of 10.8 mm in the district. Some localities in Saidapet complained of sewage mixing with rainwater.