DHARMAPURI: A 30-year-old IT employee drowned in the Cauvery River near Hogenakkal on Sunday after ignoring the tourism ban and flouting warnings.
A group of IT employees from Bengaluru arrived at Hogenakkal. They went to a secluded area to swim in the Cauvery River, ignoring multiple warnings from locals. Among them, J Jyothi Krishnaganth, a 30-year-old IT manager from Andhra Pradesh, and another person were swept away by the strong current. While the other person was rescued, Krishnaganth was washed away.
The group alerted local residents, who in turn notified the fire and rescue services and the police department. After several hours of searching, authorities recovered the body of the deceased.
Hogenakkal police said, "The group had trespassed near the Chinnar Coracle beat and entered the river. The waters here are treacherous, as whirlpools in the riverbed can pull people in, making it nearly impossible to escape once trapped. We had placed warning boards in five languages, but the group ignored them, leading to the death of one individual. We urge tourists to be mindful of the warnings."
Earlier on Sunday, the district administration had banned tourism and coracle operations after the inflow levels reached 28,000 cusecs. This was the fifth ban of the year. However, since Sunday morning, the inflow levels have decreased to 24,000 cusecs. Officials from the Tamil Nadu Water Drainage (TWAD) reported that the rise in water levels was due to rain in the Cauvery water catchment areas.