Rainwater being pumped out of house at Vedhalam near Mandapam on Wednesday.
| Photo Credit:
L. BALACHANDAR
/ RAMANATHAPURAM
As almost all the southern districts experienced incessant rain on Tuesday. Madurai city recorded a 50.8 mm rainfall in the 24 hours ending at 6 a.m. on Wednesday and scattered rainfall on Wednesday.
The severe widespread rainfall following Deepavali completely halted the movement of the public.
Disaster Management Department officials said though a heavy rainfall warning was issued to the district, the recorded rainfall surpassed the expected rainfall level.
However, due to the warning, as all necessary arrangements and precautionary actions were carried out in the previous days, the rainfall did not affect the district, the official added.
Madurai Collector K.J. Praveen Kumar, along with Corporation Commissioner, Chitra Vijayan inspected crucial locations like East Marret Street junction, Kamarajar Salai Road, Girder bridge, Karisalkulam tank, Yanaikkal area and Vaigai river in Alwarpuram.
Madurai City Traffic Police have blocked stretches of Vaigai North Bank Road and Vaigai South Bank Road which were flooded due to outflanking of Vaigai river water as a precautionary measure. This led to traffic congestion on Alagarkoil Road, Albtert Victor Bridge, Yanaikkal junction, Palam Station Road.
Vehicular traffic was diverted through Gandhi Museum Road from Tamukkam to ease congestion at Goripalayam junction.
He also inspected the inflow of water into the Karisalkulam tank, condition of embankments, and the water discharge areas.
Mr. Praveen Kumar during inspection on Tuesday had noted that while the district received an average rainfall of 48 mm, maximum rainfall of 7 cm was recorded in Kallandiri, heavy rainfall was also recorded in Mettupatti and Sittampatti areas.
Speaking of the incidents due to rainfall, he said, they had got information about two wall collapse incidents with no casualties.
“In Peraiyur, a road was eroded by water. As soon as it came to our attention, we contacted block-level officers, and the road was immediately repaired and brought back to public use. In Kachaikatti village, a tree had fallen on a car. It wasimmediately removed by the Fire and Rescue Services Department,” he added.
Also, as the Vaigai river currently has an outflow of about 3,000 cusecs of surplus water, the district administration urged the public not to go near the riverbanks in the upcoming days.
Officials said, the district administration was monitoring the storage levels of Sathaiyar Dam, Mullaperiyar Dam, and Vaigai Dam through Water Resources Department officials and was taking all necessary steps to discharge water accordingly.
On Wednesday, though rainfall was expected in the district, the day was mostly sunny with just scattered minimal rainfall in a few areas.
In Ramanathapuram district, while the total rainfall recorded in the district till 6 a.m. on Wednesday stood at 886.10 mm, extremely heavy rainfall was experienced in most parts of the district.
While the Mandapam area received the highest rainfall of 103.60 mm, several residential areas and farms got inundated with rainwater.
But contrary to the forecast, the district on Wednesday got very little to moderate rainfall in the daytime.
Due to the absence of rain, the officials said they were able to pump out water inundations from low-lying residential areas.
In Vedhalam on Ramanathapuram to Rameswaram road, motors were engaged by the local administration to suck out rainwater from the houses and roads.
The sucked-out water was let out into the barren lands to avoid prolonged water stagnation and spread of diseases, officials said.
In the case of crops damaged due to the excessive rainfall, Agriculture Department officials said that based on complaints and reports, the damaged crops and farmlands would be surveyed for further action.
Published – October 22, 2025 08:57 pm IST
