VELLORE: Vellore district with 40 cm average rainfall during the Northeast monsoon will help fill 187 major irrigation tanks out of 519 tanks maintained by PWD. 246 minor irrigation tanks out of 745 maintained by the rural development department have also filled up.
School Education secretary, D Sabita, nodal officer for monitoring rain-related relief work, addressing media persons on Tuesday, said that 113 tanks have reached 75 percent of their capacity, 125 tanks - 50 percent and 71 tanks - 25 percent while 23 have received below 25 percent. The three major reservoirs of Mordhana have risen to 215 feet (261 feet full level), while Andiyappanur has reached the full capacity level of 112 ft. Arakkonam which received the maximum of 66 cm rainfall has filled up 103 tanks out of the 198 tanks, she added.
The district which has set up Rapid Response teams of officials at every village levels now has provided food and temporary accommodation, medication to over 894 persons rescued from water logging, house damage etc through 12 special camps so far. A total of 1,058 dwellings have been partly damaged, 219 fully damaged.
The district administration, still on alert mode, has identified 16 vulnerable pockets (low lying areas, closers to mountains) in the district. 16 water pumps, 7 sucker machines, 77 earthmovers, 4 jet pumps and 27 pump-stoves have been kept ready to provide assistance to people in distress. Around 16,000 sandbags have also been kept ready for blocking possible breaches. The health department is ready with adequate stock of medicines to treat people in the event of any water borne or vector borne disease outbreak. An official team at the block level is monitoring the health aspects across the district, she added. The collector added Wednesday has been declared a holiday for schools and colleges.