Water level in Vaigai river rises due to heavy rainfall in Madurai

MADURAI: The water level in the Vaigai River has risen due to heavy rainfall in Tamil Nadu's Madurai district on Sunday. As the Northeast Monsoon intensified in the state, hilly areas including Varusanadu and Chathuragiri have been receiving ample rainfall for the past few days, the district administration informed.

The shutters of the Vaigai Dam were opened on Friday, November 24, following heavy rainfall in the Vaigai water catchment region, due to which several areas in Madurai were inundated.

Meanwhile, the Regional Meteorological Department, Chennai, has issued a light to moderate rainfall warning in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry for today.

Chennai Regional Meteorological Department Director Balachandran said, "As far as Tamil Nadu and Pondicherry are concerned, light to moderate rainfall is expected." On Friday, November 24, the Tamil Nadu Disaster Rescue team rescued 10 people who were trapped due to a landslide in the Sengal Combai Tribal Settlement since Thursday evening, located in an interior forest area 20 km from Coonoor.

Heavy rainfall resulted in landslides and mudslides in over ten places on the Coonoor-Mettupalayam National Highway and the Kothagiri-Mettupalayam Highway in Nilgiris district on Thursday.

Mettuapalayam in the Coimbatore district received the season's heaviest rainfall at 373 mm, while the Nilgiris recorded 369.9 mm of rainfall on Friday, as per the Indian Meteorological Department