Four days on, search operation to trace two-and-a-half-year-old girl swept away by a flash flood near Pollachi yet to yield results; people from two villages moved to temporary shelters after inflows in Hogenakkal touch 2.80 lakh cusecs; CM hits out at DMK chief Stalin, says he is touring the area for publicity
COIMBATORE: Four days on, the search operation to find the two and a half-year-old girl, who was swept away from her house in a flash flood at a tribal hamlet near Pollachi, is yet to yield results. Earthmovers have been deployed to remove the nearly 10-feet of soil deposits (caused by landslides and flash floods) in canals in the area in an effort to find the child’s body.
According to officials, the landslide on Thursday night had caused the water to be diverted from Contour canal to the village. Racing through the village, the floodwater entered feeder canals that serve water from the Sarkarpathy powerhouse to Azhiyar dam after the power production. The rain and the landslide had filled the canal with nearly 10 feet of debris for up to a distance of one kilometre. Most of the things that were swept away from the village have been recovered from the stagnant mud waste here.
If the soil build-up were removed, it would help find the child, they explained. Four earthmovers at the site have cleared the deposits for a stretch of 200 metres. There has been no sign of the girl yet, they added.
K Sundari (2) had been sleeping with her parents in their hut in the village near Sarkarpathy powerhouse in Pollachi. A landslide nearby had caused a flash flood that swept through the village. She was last seen struggling in the water even as she was being swept away. While six others were caught in the flood too, they were all rescued within an hour. The injured were admitted to government Pollachi hospital for treatment; six-year-old Krishnan, brother of the missing child, is at Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH).
With the girl still missing, a massive search operation was initiated and the team included officials from Forest, Revenue and TNEB departments. Members of the settlement and people from neighbouring villages also joined the effort.
“The heavy rains have caused extensive damage to the tribal community. They have lost their belongings in the flash flood that caused landslides, erosion, and road damage, and uprooted trees in their village and its surrounding. The district administration should take steps for arranging basic amenities for them,” suggested Tamil Nadu Tribal People’s Association functionary V S Paramasivam, who took part in the search operation.
Search on for missing man
Revenue officials informed that a team is visiting several places on the Kerala side of the Pandiar river in an effort to find the body of a 43-year-old man, who is believed to have been swept away in the river during the flood at O Valley in Gudalur.
Stalin to allot Rs 10 cr from MPs, MLAs fund
Coimbatore: On day-two of his visit to the rain-battered Nilgiris, DMK President M K Stalin announced that the party’s MPs and MLAs would collectively contribute Rs 10 crore to help the district recover from the damage it has suffered. While the district’s MP A Raja is set to give Rs 3 crore, Gudalur MLA M Thiravidamani will donate Rs 2 crore — both from their constituency development fund. DMK’s five Rajya Sabha members — M Shanmugam, P Wilson, R S Bharathi, T K S Elangovan and Tiruchi Siva would contribute Rs 1 crore each. This money would be spent on repairing the damaged infrastructure and helping people in need of assistance, Stalin said.
