Encroachments narrowed down Puckle Channel leaving Thoothukudi submerged
The Hindu
Heavy rainfall paralyzes Thoothukudi district, flooding roads & damaging offices. Social Welfare Minister & MP visit to expedite relief.
The unprecedented downpour marooned several parts of the district including the coastal towns of Thoothukudi, Kaayalpattinam and Tiruchendur which were cut-off from other parts of the district.
Even though the district did not experience the heavy rainfall on Sunday like Tirunelveli had and had only intermittent rainfall, the downpour that started after Sunday evening lasted till Monday morning to paralyze the entire district. The rainwater from Maniyaachi, Kadambur and Ottapidaaram, which witnessed heavy rainfall, entered the western parts of Thoothukudi to recreate the situation the coastal town faces since 2018.
Even though drainage channels were built recently by the Thoothukudi Corporation in Annai Velankanni Nagar, rainwater entered the ground floors of the houses, much to their agony.
Even the arterial roads like Palayamkottai Road, Jayaraj Road, WGC Road, Tiruchendur Road, Ettaiyapuram Road, VE Road and George Road had hip-deep water to throw vehicular traffic out of gear as the narrowed-down Puckle Channel carrying sewage and rainwater to the sea miserably failed to serve purpose. Consequently, several offices including District Collectorate, District Police Office and District Industries Centre were seriously affected.
“Rainwater has entered in good number of offices in the ground floor of the District Collectorate to damage the documents and the computers. We are yet to assess the damage as we could not enter the campus,” said a senior government official.
The power supply that was stopped on Sunday in Thoothukudi could not be restored till Monday evening with the downpour continued to pound the town.
With almost all parts of Thoothukudi Town becoming inaccessible by cars, Social Welfare Minister P. Geetha Jeevan, MP Kanimozhi, Mayor Jegan Periyasamy and Corporation Commissioner C. Dinesh Kumar, who commenced their relief and rescue operation on Sunday night, took two school buses to visit these places to expedite works to drain the stagnant rainwater. However, the motors used to pump out the rainwater were of little use with the heavy rain continuing till morning.
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