A portion of the Mukkombu dam near Trichy was washed away on Wednesday evening. According to reports, at least seven shutters of the regulator across Cauvery River was washed away along with the piers due to a sudden increase in the Kollidam River’s water flow. However, the officials claim that there is no immediate danger to the surrounding areas.

Officers from the Public Works Department (PWD) attribute the cause to the heavy flow of water during the heavy rainfall period. They have also reportedly sounded an alert in the downstream areas of the river.

In the past few weeks, the Cauvery River has been receiving around 2 lakh cusecs of water from Karnataka due to the heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of Krishnarajasagara and Kabini dam.

The Kollidam River is essentially a flood carrier and begins from the Upper Anicut. The Upper Anicut is an important structure that was built to divert surplus waters into the river which will ultimately drain into sea.

With the heavy discharge into the Cauvery River from Mettur dam, over 1.50 lakh cusecs of water got diverted into the Kollidam from the Upper Anicut for more than three days last week, as per reports.

A few days back, a portion of the old road bridge across Kollidam River had collapsed owing to heavy water flow. As per reports, a portion of the pier of the Kollidam River’s old steel bridge developed cracks and started to cave in. The main reason for the bridge to collapse was the fissures in the 18th pier which broke and vanished inside the waters.