COIMBATORE: A section of an earthen bund around a pond in Somayampalayam village broke after reaching maximum capacity on Friday morning due to heavy rain, causing panic.
Concerned about safety, villagers reported the issue to Collector Kranthi Kumar Pati who immediately directed the Water Resources Department to address the breach. Following orders, officials and villagers began repair work and temporarily plugged the breach with sandbags.
Somayampalayam village is situated at the foothill of Kanuvai Hill and is part of the Western Ghats in the district. The town relies on water sourced from the hills, and the water accumulates in two ponds located between Vadavalli and Navavoor roads. These ponds are tributaries to the Noyyal River through Muthannan Lake, and they feature earthen bunds and concrete structures for sluices designed to allow water to flow from one pond to the other once the first pond reaches full capacity. However, due to consistent rainfall recently, the first pond near Vadavalli police station received good inflow and as it filled, the second pond began receiving water.
R Santhakumar, founder of the Aaniver Organisation, an NGO rejuvenating these water bodies, said, “Heavy rain in the surrounding areas led to the bund breaching. Since the bund posed a threat, we alerted the district administration and the officials promptly began repairing it.”
When TNIE asked the officials, they said that they had fixed the issue temporarily and that the work to strengthen the bund would be carried out after the monsoon.