FIVE DROWN IN CAUVERY, 12 DISTRICTS ON ALERT IN TN

CHENNAI: At least five people, including three women, died on Sunday after they were washed away by a flood while bathing in the Cauvery river near Mettur in Salem district.

With the water level in the Stanley reservoir in Mettur reaching its capacity on Sunday, there has been a huge outflow of water.

“The deceased have been identified as G Vaishnavi(20), N Saravanan(35), S Mythili(32), S Raveena(17) and S Hariharan(7). We rescued one G Dhanushri (18) alive, but we could only recover the dead bodies of four others. We are yet to retrieve the body of Hariharan,” said C Murugesan,district fire service officer(DFO in-charge),Salem.

As the water level of in the reservoir almost reached its full capacity—120 feet—by Sunday evening, district PWD officials increased the outflow of water to 30,000 cusecs from the earlier 20,000 cusecs. Following this, people residing on the banks of the river in Dharmapuri, Salem, Erode, Namakkal, Karur, Trichy, Thanjavur, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Cuddalore, Pudukkottai, Ariyalur have been put on flood alert.

Rohini Bhajibakare, collector of Salem district termed the loss of lives as unfortunate.

“We have given flood alerts through media, dum-dums, loudspeakers and notices. Also, we have placed danger signboards at 30 vulnerable points in the district. Boat operations have also been stopped. Police and fire services are ready to respond to the unexpected situation. Tourists who are visiting Mettur should not enter the river. No one should take selfies by the river,” she said.