SALEM: Heavy rains lashed the city late on Sunday night, leaving the low-lying areas inundated. One teenage boy went missing after he accidentally fell into a sewage channel flowing to its capacity.
The district recorded 362.8 mm rainfall on Sunday night and the city accounted for a share of
133.8 mm.
Police said S Mohammed Sath (16) of Narayana Nagar in Kitchipalayam, who was attending a tutorial to appear for SSLC exam, was heading home along with his brother Mohammed Hussein on Sunday night.
He went near a drainage channel to attend nature’s call, but slipped into it due to the water flowing on the road in high speed. His brother tried to save him in vain.
The fire and rescue service personnel and police are yet to trace his body. Collector Rohini Ramdas Bhajibhakarae went to the boy’s home and consoled his parents and assured all the help. At Ambedkar Nagar in ward 47, four mud houses collapsed and fortunately no one was hurt.
It started raining moderately at around 10 pm and began to pour through 3 hours from midnight, leaving the roads covered with sheets of water.
Low-lying areas - Pachapatti, Peramanur, Narayana Nagar, Johnsonpet, Seelanaickenpatti, Kondalampatti, Ammapet and Dadagapatti - were inundated.
The Kumaragiri lake in Ammapet overflowed and rainwater entered into about 300 houses in Pachapatti and Ashok Nagar.
Similarly, sewage-mixed rainwater entered into more than 500 houses in Permanur, Kitchipalayam, Alagapuram, Sankar Nagar, Suramangalam, Kalarampatti and Thiruvagoundanur. Vehicular traffic came to a standstill at Seelanaickenpatti. The railway under bridge at Sivathapuram was water-logged for over 5 feet.