TIRUCHY: Two of Tangedco’s extra high-tension (HT) power transmission towers on the bed of River Kollidam near Azhagiripuram in the district, which leaned in the river on Thursday following heavy flow from the Mukkombu barrage discharge, collapsed completely into the waterbody in the early hours of Friday.
With about 1.68 lakh cusecs of water being discharged into the Cauvery and Kollidam from the Mukkombu barrage on Thursday evening, the power transmission towers on the Kollidam bed came under the risk of collapsing. Tangedco officials soon disconnected the power supply and began operations to prevent the collapse of the towers.
At that time, the rope from which a contract worker was suspended to reach one of the towers snapped mid-way. He, however, managed to grab the other end of the rope and held on to it till a fire and rescue services personnel rescued him, sources said.
Around 1 am on Friday, both the power transmission towers, however, collapsed into the Kollidam. As Tangedco and PWD workers engaged in placing back the towers in position, District Collector M Pradeep Kumar and district monitoring officer K Manivasan inspected the works. They also inspected the work undertaken to prevent sand erosion on the banks of Kollidam at Kariyamanickam.