Flood alert issued as Vaigai dam filling up fast

MADURAI: The first flood alert was sounded in the riparian areas of the Vaigai on Wednesday morning, as the dam was filling up fast.Owing to a depression in the Bay of Bengal, the district has been experiencing widespread rains over the past few days. The Mullaiperiyar and Vaigai dams have also been recording copious inflow, thanks to the torrential rains in the catchment areas.As of 8.30 am on Wednesday, the Mullaiperiyar dam recorded an inflow of 4,079 cusecs and discharge of 438 cusecs. The storage level at the dam stood at 126 ft. Similarly, the Vaigai dam received an inflow of 5,140 cusecs and discharge of 1,260 cusecs, while the storage level stood at 66 ft. The total capacity of the Vaigai dam is 69 feet. These figures indicated that the water level at the dam had risen by three feet within 24 hours, till 8.30 am on Wednesday.Due to copious inflow into the dam, the first flood alert was issued on Wednesday morning. According to PWD officials, there was a possibility of the dam would surpass the limit before Thursday morning. If the storage level reaches 69 ft, the surplus water would be released through the sluices. Since this would cause flooding, the PWD has asked those living along the banks of the river to move to safer areas. The rainfall recorded during the 24 hours are (in mms): Peranai (55); Thekkadi (99); Marudhanadhi  (26); Gudalur (23); Andipatti (23) and Vaigai (15).