Rain damages temporary road across Palar near Gudiyatham

In Vellore, Palar river's temp. road washed away due to heavy rain. Barricades erected to prevent residents from using damaged stretch. 63-yr-old woman died after mud wall of her house collapsed. Low lying areas in Vellore inundated. Schools declared holiday in Vellore & Ranipet. Highest rainfall in Tiruvannamalai (297.40 mm). Sathanur dam has 92.72% of total water storage.

A portion of a temporary road across Palar river at Melalathur village near Gudiyatham was washed away on Tuesday after steady increase of water in the river due to continuous rain for the past few days.

Revenue officials said that the temporary road, which was around 600 metres long, across the river was washed away as there were no culverts to allow excess rainwater to get discharged without affecting the road. The stretch connects Melalathur and Kottakuppam villages near Gudiyatham town.

“We have been using the mud road across the river since the low level bridge was damaged a few years ago. Due to the damage to the mud road, we have to travel at least 15 km to reach Pallikonda town and the Chennai - Bengaluru Highway,” said S. Murugan, a resident.

A team of revenue officials and police inspected the affected mud road across the river on Tuesday. Barricades were erected to prevent residents from using the damaged stretch to reach nearby villages as the water level in the river has been on the rise.

Woman dies

Meanwhile, a 63-year-old woman died after the mud wall of her thatched house in Gudiyatham collapsed due to rain. Along with her husband K. Vijayan, 65, and son V. Satish, 26, V. Gnanammal, 63, was sleeping in the house when the side wall of the house caved in. The family was working as agricultural labourers in the village. Along with firefighters, Gudiyatham taluk police rescued others in the house and admitted them to the Government Taluk Hospital.

In Vellore town, low lying areas like Sampath Nagar and Kansalpet were inundated due to continuous downpour since Monday evening. Along with Corporation Commissioner, P. Rathinasamy, Collector P. Kumaravel Pandian inspected a few water-logged stretches in these areas and directed civic officials to de-clog storm water drains on these stretches. Due to rain, holiday was declared to all primary schools in Vellore and Ranipet districts on Tuesday.