Cyclone Fengal: Double blow for farmers, rivers in spate inundate crops in Puducherry

Devastating floods hit Puducherry after Cyclone Fengal, submerging homes and crops, affecting over 5,400 hectares of land.

Just as people of Bahour and adjoining areas in Puducherry thought the worst was behind them after Cyclone Fengal passed through the region on Saturday (November 30, 2024), another disaster has now struck the rural hamlets following the release of large volumes of water from brimming dams in neighbouring districts of Tamil Nadu on Monday (December 2).

With around 2. 20 lakh cusecs of water reaching Puducherry region mainly from Sathanur dam in Tiruvannamalai, hundreds of houses and vast swathes of agriculture land in Bahour, Arachikuppam, Manamedu, Irulansanthai, Kuruvinatham, Karikalampakkam, Kirumampakkam, T. N Palayam and Kariampathoor have got submerged.

By Monday night, around 4,000 people were evacuated to safer places after water entered the villages even submerging a few houses in these villages. Evacuation by teams from the army, National Disaster Response Force and Puducherry Fire Service Personnel continued till Tuesday (December 3) morning, District Collector A. Kulothungan told The Hindu.

Flooding in these villages happened because there was heavy inflow of water from Sathanur into Thenpenniyar and to its tributary Malattar. The Thenpenniyar and Malattar suffered breaches in several places in Puducherry region, a PWD official said.

“Water from the dams in Tamil Nadu started reaching Puducherry by Monday morning. The inflow has reduced by Tuesday morning. The rainfall due to Cyclone Fengal coupled with the release of water from the dams become a huge challenge for the administration. People were reluctant to move out of their homes and villages even when water began entering their locality. We are serving food and water to the people in the camps and water-logged places,” he said.

According to Kolanthaivelu, a resident of T. N Palayam, the residents have not faced such a dire flood situation in recent times. “I am 53 years old. I have not encountered such a situation. Even during Cyclone Thane, we have not faced such an alarming situation. Water has entered most of the houses in our area and we were all awake on Monday night fearing the worst,” he said.

5,400 hectares affected in Puducherry region.