Two die as rain lashes Vellore, neighbouring districts

Woman farmer electrocuted after a power line from a Tangedco pole on her farmland snapped in the rain

Two persons, including a six-year-old girl, died as rain lashed many parts of Vellore, Ranipet, Tiruvannamalai and Tirupattur districts since Monday night.   Police said that K. Devika, 6, was sleeping with her parents in their hut when the sidewall of the house collapsed in Panchur village near Natrampalli taluk in Tirupattur on Tuesday. The girl died on the spot and other family members sustained minor injuries. Neighbours and other residents shifted the injured to the Government Taluk Hospital in Natrampalli. In a rain-related incident, a 45-year-old women farmer, S. Eshwari, got electrocuted after she came in contact with a live wire in her farmland in Krishnapalli hamlet of Devalapuram village panchayat near Ambur in Tirupattur on Tuesday morning. The wire had snapped from the Tangedco poles in her farmland due to strong winds on Monday night. A case has been filed by the Ambur Town police.   Unlike rugged terrain like Vellore, officials said that key towns in the newly carved Tirupattur district, including Ambur (27.40 mm), Vaniyambadi (16 mm), Alangayam (32 mm) and Natrampalli (6.20 mm) received good rainfall since Monday night with a total rainfall of 164.7 mm. The Tirupattur town also got heavy rain, registering 35.10 mm as of 6 a.m on Tuesday. In fact, Tirupattur district has been receiving good rain for more than a week despite Agni Natchathiram that started on May 4. A total of 20 houses, mostly huts (12), with 13.70 hectares of farmland where banana and paddy are cultivated, were damaged in the rain on Tuesday. Also, 17 electrical poles of high tension (HT) power line were damaged in Tirupattur, Vaniyambadi and Gudiyatham.  After Tirupattur, Tiruvannamalai has been receiving good rainfall since last week. The total rainfall in the district stood at 43.6 mm as of 6 a.m on Tuesday. Among major towns, Jamunamarathoor on the Jawadhu Hills received a total rainfall of 13 mm, followed by Kalasapakkam near Arani with 11 mm, Polur (10.2 mm) and Chengam (4.8 mm). No rainfall was reported in Vandavasi, Tiruvannamalai town, Arani, Cheyyar and Chetpet in the district. Likewise, officials said, Gudiyatham and Melalathur in Vellore received the highest rainfall in the district with 19 mm and 25.5 mm respectively. Key areas like Katpadi, Sathuvachari, Ponnai got only light rain. Vellore’s Old Town received a meagre 1.20 mm of rainfall as of 6 a.m. on Tuesday. The neighbouring Ranipet district witnessed drizzle since Monday night with old towns like Arcot, Walajah, Sholinghur and Arakkonam remaining wet throughout the day. Nemili, a farming town in the district, got light rain. Extensive crop damage, mainly banana, paddy, betel leaf, mango reported in Tirupattur and Tiruvannamalai districts. Farmers in Ambur, Natrampalli, Alangayam in Tirupattur suffered crop damage due to heavy rain accompanied by strong winds. Paddy fields in Yelagiri Hills, a tourist village in Tirupattur, was also damaged. Along Jawadhu Hills in Tiruvannamalai, Chengam town and its neighbouring villages witnessed extensive damage to crops. A team of officials from agriculture and revenue departments has been sent by the district administration to assess the extent of crop damage in the rain-affected areas, officials said.