Chennai, Sept 7 (BPNS)

With the increased discharge of water from Mettur dam in Salem, a flood alert has been sounded in the banks of the Kollidaam river in Cuddalore.

An alert has been sounded across the banks of River Kollidam as water has been discharged at the rate of 90,000 cusecs from the Mettur dam.

The Cuddalore district collector has urged the people living on the banks of the river to be cautious as the water in the river  can go up any time following the release of water from the Mettur dam. He has also directed the people not to venture into water bodies for swimming, fishing or any other purpose as the water level can go up at any time. The district collector also cautioned against taking selfies across the river banks as the possibility of falling into the river was high.

It is to be noted that rains have been lashing for the past few days in Salem, Erode, and Cuddalore districts of Tamil Nadu, and many reservoirs are already full with the heavy inflow into the water and the rains in the catchment areas.

Two old women lost their lives in Salem after heavy rains lashed the area and overflowed of water into their residences. The deceased are identified as Palaniyammal (80) who is a resident of Dr. Rathinam Street near Swaminathapuram in the district and Rukmani (78) resident of Govinda Goundar in Peramannur.

Salem district officials told BPNS that they were living alone in their homes and Palaniyammal had difficulty walking. Salem corporation Mayor, Ramachandran told BPNS that there was a sudden blockage of canals in Govinda Goundar Thottam and Swaminathapuram and hence water entered the houses. He said that rescue operations are on and that situation was under control.