Floods in Coleroon ruin paddy crops on 100 acres in Cuddalore district
Special Correspondent
Threat of inundation in 20 villages in two taluks
CUDDALORE: Floods in the Coleroon have damaged standing paddy crops on 100 acres and drumstick trees on 25 acres near Chidambaram. At least, 20 villages in Chidambaram and Kattumannarkoil taluks are facing the threat of inundation, as the waters have already reached their borders.
The discharge in the Coleroon has exceeded one lakh cusecs, and owing to backflow in the channels, Thittukattur, Akkarai Neikondapattinam, Perambattu, Keezh Kondalavadi, Pazhaiya Nallur and Kattu Koodalur in Chidambaram taluk, and, Omampuliyur, Muttam, Kanjankollai, Karupperi and Kunjamedu in Kattumannarkoil taluk have been put on alert.
Villages located in the vicinity of the Coleroon’s confluence with the sea are facing the recurring problem of floods. Owing to heavy discharge from the Mettur Dam, the Coleroon is carrying over one lakh cusecs, out of which about 2,700 cusecs is drawn for irrigation, and remaining quantum is draining into the sea.
As Sunday was a full moon day, the swelling sea could not absorb the swirling waters in the Coleroon, and this in turn resulted in a backflow into the channels branching out from the river, thus damaging farmlands.
District Collector Rajendra Ratnoo told The Hindu that the official machinery was kept in readiness.
A contingency plan had been put in place, which included stocking fair price shops in vulnerable villages with adequate quantity of essential commodities and keeping ready the cyclone centres and schools to accommodate the people likely to be displaced.
Printer friendly
page Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
