Flood Alert in place in Kanyakumari, Perunchani dam opened due to heavy inflow

More than 100 families in an around the Pechiparai and Perunchani dams in Kanyakumari District in Tamil Nadu have been evacuated by the district administration due to discharge of water from the dams. The district authorities have also advised people living in low-lying areas to move to safety.

According to sources, the discharge from Perunchani dam has now been reduced to 19,000 cusecs. However, since heavy rains are expected in the catchment areas of the dam, the inflow and the outflow is expected to increase during the course of the day.

Rainfall for the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am on Wednesday in Kanyakumari district -- Upper Kodayar with 286 mm, Lower Kodayar with 208 mm and Pechiparai with 204 mm. 

According to a tweet by Tamil Nadu State Disaster Management Authority, 30,000 cusecs of water is being released from Pechiparai and Perunchani dams due to very heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of the dams.

Very Heavy to Heavy rainfall received in catchmets of Petchparai and Perunjanai dams of Kanniyakumari district. All together 30000 cusecs water is being released. Dist Collector has evacuated more than 100 families and advised people in low lying areas to move to Safety.

— TN SDMA (@tnsdma) August 15, 2018

Tamil Nadu Weatherman, the weather blogger, also posted in his Facebook page that the discharge from Perunchani dam was massive and warned people living on the banks of Kodayar and Kuzhithuraiyaru to move to safety.

Flood alert around the Perunchani dam was issued two days back and the discharge from the dam was 30,000 cusecs early on Wednesday.

Heavy rainfalls have been lashing state for the past few days. As per the data with the Indian Meteorological Department, Pechiparai recorded 6 cms of rainfall in the 24 hours that ended on Tuesday.

This is a developing story.