TN flood fiasco: Villagers flag lack of sufficient alerts

THE unanticipated and sudden release of water to the tune 1.8 lakh cusecs from Sathanur dam in Tiruvannamalai district on Sunday night may have triggered the flooding in many areas along the Thenpennai river in Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram, and Cuddalore districts, but lack of specific details about the level of flooding or pointed instruction to move to designated relief shelters, during the initial hours of the calamity, may have put the residents to avoidable trouble.

- RAJALAKSHMI SAMPATH

Despite the Tamil Nadu government's claims of following proper alert procedures, a TNIE visit to several affected villages revealed that many residents did not receive adequate flood warning.

In Puthur Chekkadi, Rayandapuram, Thiruvathanur, and Kolamajanur, which were included in the fifth and final flood warning, communication was insufficient, raising concerns about the alert system's effectiveness.

THIS flood warning was sent by the assistant executive engineer of Sathanur Dam Sub-Division of Water Resources Department in the early hours of Monday to the tahsildars of Thandarampet, Chengam, Tiruvannamalai and Tirukoilur taluks. Most of the villagers said that this was the worst flooding they have seen in their living memory, while some of the elderly people recalled a similar flooding in the early 1970s.