Tormentor Thane

CHENNAI: Heavy rains in the catchment areas after cyclone Thane hit the Tamil Nadu coast on Friday morning has forced Public Works Department (PWD) officials to open the sluice gates of the Red Hills reservoir and release 500 cusecs of water.PWD engineering-in-chief of the Water Resources Department S S Rajagopal told Express that with heavy rains in the catchment areas, the inflow in the reservoir was 1,390 cusecs and the PWD was releasing 500 cusecs of water from the reservoir.“We released 200 cus-ecs of water on Thursday following the intermittent rainfall and 400 cusecs in the morning. Now we are releasing 500 cusecs,” he said.“We have asked our chief engineer to be stationed at the the surplus area to monitor the situation,” he added.Rajagopal said that his department was unable to establish contact with the officials in Cuddalore as power lines had sna-pped. “We have sent a chief engineer from Chennai to Cuddalore to monitor the situation. He is facing difficulties in reaching the spot,” he added.Rajagopal also said that due to surplus water in Veedur Anaicut in Villupuram district, the river water was overflowing in the Veedur dam. Similarly, the Manimuthar dam in the district has a surplus of 2,0-00 cusecs and Gomuki Dam has 13,000 cusecs. “We are opening the dam to discharge water and silt,” Rajagopal said.PWD officials are on alert in 11 areas identified as vulnerable and have employed earthmovers to ensure free flow of water. “The rains have just started and we are taking precautionary steps in the eventuality of heavy rains on Saturday,” he added. He also said that due to the rough seas in Chennai coast, PWD officials were maintaining a calibrated discharge of water.At the SAF Games Village in Koyambedu, water flow was blocked and Corporation officials clea-red it and water flowed into the Virugambakkam canal, he added.