Heavy rains in Kanniyakumari: Lankan refugee camp inundated; dams fast reaching full capacity

MADURAI: Heavy rains pounded several parts of Kanniyakumari district on Saturday evening leading to inundation in low-lying areas.

The Sri Lankan refugee camp at Perumalpuram and parts of Pudugramam village were waterlogged. Collector R Alagumeena inspected the inundated refugee camp and oversaw restoration works.

A total of 115 persons, including 54 women, 47 men and 14 children of 47 families from the refugee camp were evacuated to a shelter. They later returned once the rainwater drained.

Due to the rains, the passenger ferry service in Kanniyakumari was suspended as a precautionary measure. The ferry service operated by the Poompuhar Shipping Corporation to the Vivekananda Rock and Thiruvalluvar statue took off as usual at 8 am, but sudden torrents of rain prompted the authorities to suspend the service at 2 pm, well ahead of its usual closure time of 4 pm, based on instructions from Tamil Nadu Maritime Board.

The highest downpour was recorded in Kottaram, which experienced 158.6 mm rainfall, in Agastheeswaram taluk. Three other stations also recorded triple-digit rainfall with Mylaudy receiving 110.2 mm rainfall. The catchment areas of Perunchani Dam saw 101.4 mm of rainfall and Surulacode in Thiruvattar taluk had 100 mm of rain.

The water level in the Mambalathuraiyaru dam reached its full capacity of 54.12 ft, and the level in Perunchani dam stood at 67.4 ft (with a total capacity of 77 ft). Pechiparai dam, having a capacity of 48 ft, saw storage rise to 42.46 ft.