104% more than normal rainfall during SW monsoon: Minister

CHENNAI: State Revenue Minister KKSSR Ramachandran on Saturday said that the State has received 104% more than normal rainfall since June 1.

Ramachandran, who reviewed the measures taken to handle the damage caused by the release of surplus water from Mettur Dam, said that during the Southwest monsoon season, the State has received 266.4mm of rain from June 1 to August 5, 2022.

The rainfall level was 104% more than the normal rainfall, the minister added, putting the state average for the last 24 hours at 3.66mm with 25 districts recording rainfall.

The Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Theni, Tirupattur and Krishnagiri have recorded maximum rainfall during the last 24 hours. The Nilgiris district has registered 41.3mm followed by Coimbatore and Theni at 19.71mm and 5.50mm during the last 24 hours, respectively.

Avalanche in the Nilgiris has received the maximum rainfall with the hilly hamlet receiving a whopping 322mm. The government has so far set up 6,109 relief camps, including 1,735 in Namakkal and 1,322 in Erode, a statement issued by the government said.

Chief Minister M K Stalin, who reviewed the precaution and safety measures in districts affected by discharge of surplus water on Thursday, visited the state emergency control room in Ezhilagam and reviewed the flood situation in the State.

At 9am on Saturday, about 1.5 lakh cusecs were released from Mettur Dam, while 25,500 cusecs were being discharged from Bhavanisagar Dam.

Going by the statement issued by the disaster management department, about 22.76 lakh warning SMSes have been sent under CAP (Common Alert Protocol) in view of the safety of people living on the river banks. The government has advised the people to register their complaints related to floods with the state emergency control centre and district emergency control centre using the toll free numbers 1070 and 1077, respectively or via WhatsApp using the number 94458 69848.