Flood fury overwhelms Villupuram in TN, Railway suspends ops as water level rises

PTI Villupuram: Villpuram district in north Tamil Nadu continued to reel under unprecedented flooding on Monday following extremely heavy rainfall, virtually blocking access to villages and residential colonies as bridges and roads overflowed, inundating huge acreage of standing crops and leaving passengers stranded as rail and road traffic was hit. Vehicles were submerged up to two feet and the roads came completely under water in several parts of Villupuram, and nearby Cuddalore, where residents were stunned by the flooding. River Thenpennai was in spate and trees were uprooted in several areas.

Several houses, particularly tiled tenements, at Aragandanallur in Villupuram were almost submerged with water level rising over 4 feet. Parts of Krishnagiri and Dharmapuri districts, in west Tamil Nadu, too witnessed floods unseen in the past two decades. Uthangarai in Krishnagiri district received a whopping 50 cm rainfall, Villupuram district received upto 42 cm, and Harur in Dharmapuri received 33 cm. Cuddalore and Tiruvannamalai recorded 16 cm, and all of which was from 8.30 am on December 1 to 8.30 am, on the following day. Many vehicles, including cars and vans were dragged by floods from a road at Uthangarai into low-lying area, shocking people. Several of the vehicles were owned by local tour operators. Road access from Uthangarai to towns such as Krishnagiri and Tiruvannamalai has been affected due to heavy inundation. A senior India Meteorological Department official here told PTI that the extremely heavy rainfall was due to the presence of remnants of Cyclone Fengal in land areas.

On the night of November 30, the cyclonic storm made the landfall near Puducherry. With water rising above the danger level on an arterial bridge between Vikravandi and Mundiyampakkam in Villupuram, Southern Railway on Monday morning suspended operations in that key stretch, leading to cancellations, diversion and short termination of services, which includes express and superfast trains. As a result, people flocked to the bus station, resulting in choatic crowds and the traffic on the key Chennai-Tiruchirappalli national highway, in and around Villupuram, was also hit in view of flooding.

With temporary suspension of all train services via Villupuram, hundreds of passengers were affected and a railway official hinted at resumption of services, by complying with safety norms, as and when the condition improved. Well-connected Villupuram is the easy link between Chennai, other northern parts of the state and the central and southern regions of Tamil Nadu. Villupuram is located about 160 km from state capital Chennai.