KANNIYAKUMARI: A 14-year-old boy from Kolivilai area drowned at Maruthani Kottukulam tank on Sunday as low-lying areas in the district were severely inundated following torrential downpour since the late hours of Saturday. Police officials said the death was not related to the rain as water level in the tank was regular. As much as 4,000 cusecs of water was released from Pechiparai and Perunchani dams due to the amount of rainfall. Officials said a flood alert has been sounded for the people residing on the banks of rivers such as Thamirabarani and other low-lying areas as more water would be discharged from the dams.
District fire officer S Sathyakumar told TNIE that fire and rescue service personnel were roped in to evacuate residents at Meenakshi Garden, Parakkamadam, railway feeder road in Nagercoil, and Thovalai among other areas. Due to stagnated roads, bus services were stopped at Derisanamcope and some other places. Rescue brigades from other districts will reach Kanniyakumari for relief work. Trees were also uprooted in some areas. The district received an average rainfall of 57.5 mm till Sunday 4 pm.
Milk and Dairy Development Minister T Mano Thangaraj inspected the Pechiparai dam, Mankadu bridge, and Vaikallur bridge along with Padmanabhapuram sub collector HR Koushik, water resources department officials and local body representatives. He said a consultative meeting was held with district collector PN Sridhar and other department officials to expedite the works. A holiday has been announced for all schools and colleges in the district on Monday.
Box 1: Water level in dams
Dams Water level (in mcft) Total capacity (in mcft)
Chittar I 16.24 18
Chittar II: 16. 33 18
Pechiparai: 44. 59 48
Perunchani: 73. 60 77
Poigai: 7. 7 42. 65
Mambalathuraiyaru 52. 33 54. 12
Mukkadal 25 25