As heavy rains lash parts of Tamil Nadu, two elderly women lost their lives in Salem on Tuesday, September 6, when rainwater entered their homes. Palaniammal (80) and Rukmani (70) were sleeping in their respective houses at Yercaud Four Road in Salem, when the water entered their houses and they were unable to be rescued in time. Fire and rescue service personnel, with the help of police, engaged in rescue operations in the area and found their bodies, officials said.
According to reports, rainwater usually flows through Salem before reaching the Thirumanaimuthur river. However, this year, several houses faced flooding and inundation. Further, with the anticipated increased discharge of surplus water from Stanley reservoir in Mettur dam, the people living on the banks of Cauvery river have been asked to move to safer places particularly from low lying areas, Public Works Department officials said on Tuesday. As the inflow into the reservoir started increasing from 65,000 cusecs to 80,000 cusecs on Monday night, the PWD on Tuesday decided to discharge 1.20 lakh cusecs of water from 16 sluice gates.
In view of this, a flood alert has been sounded to the people living along the riverbanks. Officials have advised them to move to safer places and not to venture into water bodies in delta districts. The dam is receiving water from Karnataka, which is experiencing copious rains since Sunday night.
Meanwhile, the services of Nilgiris Mountain Rail (NMR) were cancelled for the second day between Udhagamandalam and Mettupalayam on Tuesday, as debris is yet to be cleared following a landslide in the area on Monday. The railways had cancelled the train services on Monday after receiving reports about the heavy landslide on the track between Kallar and Hillgrove stations on Sunday, and brought back the train with 140 passengers to Mettupalayam, railway sources said.
Since the restoration works on the track are continuing, the railways cancelled the NMR services, much to the disappointment of tourists. The services will resume only after clearing of the debris, they said.