Rain and gusty winds wreak havoc in Gudiyattam villages

VELLORE: Rain accompanied by thunder, lightning and gusty winds wreaked havoc in villages near Gudiyattam in Vellore district on Sunday night.

Torrential rains for over two hours lashed Vellore resulting in inundation of low-lying areas like Thideer Nagar, Kansalpet, Shenbakkam and Ariyur. Adding to the pain, Arcot Road in Kagithapattari, which is full of potholes due to non-completion of road work after laying drains, was flooded leading in traffic jams.

Villages near Gudiyattam were the most-affected as the gusty wind blew away tiles from roofs and uprooted plantain trees in villages like Mordana, Jangalapalli, Bodiappanur, and Ranimanapalli.

While farmers, who had prepared fields for rain-fed ground nut crops, in Ponnai, Melpadi, Tiruvalam, and Vallimalai villages were happy over the summer rains. Bodiappanur village near Gudiyattam saw trees being uprooted by the gale.

The Mordana dam reached full tank level (FTL) of 1.40 metres bringing cheer to farmers while PWD and revenue officials constantly monitored the reservoir.

“The surplus from the dam will flow into the Kaundanya through Gudiyattam town,” officials said and added that around 163cft of was now surplus.

Tirupattur district received a rainfall of 176 mm in the last 24 hours ending at 6 am on Monday.

As the 12-foot-high Pullur check dam on the State border with Andhra Pradesh near Vaniyambadi also touching its full level, farmers of Kodayanji, Mettupalayam, Avarankuppam and Somalapuram were upbeat as the flow in the Palar would revive the water table in the region.