Officials on their toes as Cauvery and Kollidam on spate yet again

Over 2.13 lakh cusecs flow in the two rivers in the wake of heavy discharge from Mettur dam and rain flow

With the Cauvery and Kollidam rivers in spate yet again this year, an alert has been sounded along the river courses in Tiruchi and delta districts downstream.

Over 2.13 lakh cusecs of water was flowing in the two rivers downstream the Upper Anicut (Mukkombu) by 4 p.m. on Monday. Officials in Tiruchi ordered closure of bathing ghats along the rivers and their branch channels, while safe shelters have been kept in readiness in tail-end areas of Kollidam river in Mayiladuthurai district.

Apart from the flood discharge of 1.93 lakh cusecs into the Cauvery from Mettur dam, rain flows downstream and a flash flood in Ayyaru river accounted for the higher realisation at Mukkombu. About 1.40 lakh cusecs of water was diverted into the Kollidam river, mainly a flood carrier, at Upper Anicut and the discharge in the Cauvery was being maintained at around 72,000 cusecs, according to sources in the Water Resources Department.

WRD officials reinforced a vulnerable spot along the Kollidam bund at Sirugambur where a vertical slip had occurred during the heavy discharge in the river in September. Boulders were dumped at the spot where extensive repairs were carried out in September after a slight erosion was noticed.

Heavy rains in the Kolli Hills led to a flash flood in the Ayyaru river in Tiruchi. With the Cauvery flowing to the brim already, the Ayyaru waters headed up into agricultural fields near Gunaseelam area. Young samba paddy crop has been inundated in the region. However, the flow in the Ayyaru had come down from about 15,000 cusecs to 12,300 cusecs by evening, officials said.

The heavy discharge in the Cauvery river overflowed across a causeway at Uttamarseeli on the Tiruchi-Kallanai road on Monday. The overflow inundated banana crops in Uttamarseeli, Killikoodu, Panayapuram and other villages. The natural causeway is designed to allow flood discharge in the Cauvery to drain into the Kollidam river, well ahead of the Grand Anaicut.

The heavy rain in Kolli Hills also sent the Ayyaru in spate at Puliancholai, a popular picnic destination near Thuraiyur. Public access to the spot was closed in view of the heavy flow. In Thuraiyur, some residential colonies were inundated as the Thuraiyur Big Tank continued to overflow due to heavy rain flow from Pachamalai.