Incessant rains in Tamil Nadu have caused the Poondi reservoir in Tiruvallur district to overflow, resulting in a flood alert being issued to at least fifty villages in the surrounding area.
To counter the situation, the authorities have released 34,650 cusecs of excess water from the Kosasthaliaiyar River and 15,000 cusecs of excess water from the Chembarambakkam reservoir. This is the first time in 20 years that these reservoirs have been overfilled.
Thanthi TV reports that farms have been badly affected and communication and transport facilities have been paralysed in 20 to 30 villages around the banks of the Kosasthaliaiyar river. The district administration has begun the process of evacuating people living in villages around the Poondi area, and those already evacuated have been taken to a government school.
Officials have warned people living in low-lying areas along the Adyar river to relocate to safer areas as the day-to-day functioning of people has being affected here.