Collector Anand Mohan inspects equipment used by Fire and Rescue Services personnel at the Tirunelveli Collectorate on Friday .
| Photo Credit: SHAIKMOHIDEEN A
District Collector Anand Mohan monitored the disaster management drill and chaired a meeting at the Colletorate on Friday to review the preparations made across the district ahead of southwest monsoon as the likely downpour along the Western Ghats may trigger copious influx of water into the Papanasam and Manimuthar dams to cause flooding in the Tamirabharani.Addressing the meeting, Mr. Anand Mohan said the Tamirabharani and the Chittar Basins might witness huge flow of water due to the overflowing Papanasam and Manimuthar dams in Tirunelveli district and Gadana and Ramanadhi dams in Tenkasi district. Since the flooding in these two basins could trigger deluge in the associated irrigation channels and possible breaches in channels could lead to the marooning of low-lying residential areas, the officials should constantly concentrate on the influx of water into the dams and the quantum of discharge from the reservoirs, strength the bunds of irrigation channels, irrigation tanks etc. to avoid possible breaching.The Collector directed the Public Works Department to monitor round the clock the influx of water into the dams and the discharge of water from the reservoirs and share this information with the District Collector, District Revenue Officer, District Fire Officer and other revenue officials.The forest department officials were asked to constantly monitor the downpour in the Western Ghats and consequent flow of water in the swollen wild streams and share this information with the revenue officials for taking adequate precautionary steps.While the Department of Rural Development should inspect all irrigation tanks under its management and carry-out necessary strengthening, the town panchayats, municipalities and the Corporation should desilt the storm water drains to avert water stagnation. Vulnerable areas should be identified in advance for putting in place all precautionary measures.Temporary relief shelters should be created in safe buildings which should be kept ready with all facilities and the list of shelters with all relevant information submitted to the District Collector within a week. The relief centres should be ready with drinking water, good number of toilets, doctors, nurses with sufficient quantity of medicine.Swimmers, snake catchers and other volunteers to be involved in rescue operations along with the trained police and fire service personnel should be refreshed with one more round of refresher programme. Their mobile phone numbers should be shared with the officials concerned. The tahsildars should take steps for increasing the number of these trained volunteers by identifying the healthy and persons volunteering for this work.The Fire and Rescue Services personnel should keep ready their inflatable boats, electric cutters and other rescue operation materials while the officials of Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation were told to stock power cutters, electric poles, cables etc. besides overhauling the sub-stations and the transformers for ensuring uninterrupted power supply or early restoration of power to the affected areas.The Public Health Department officials were told to stock sufficient quantity of medicines and Department of Highways was directed to check the bridges and culverts on arterial roads and remove the clogs, if any, underneath.“The officials should ensure better coordination during the relief and rescue operations so as to assuage the adverse sitaution,” Mr. Anand Mohan said.District Revenue Officer M. Durai, Sub-Collector, Cheranmahadevi, Ayush Gupta, Project Director, District Rural Development Agency Vinay Kumar Meena, District Forest Officer Ilango, and others participated in the meeting.Earlier, the Collector monitored the disaster management drills and inspected the equipment used for rescue operations displayed by the Fire and Rescue Services personnel. Published - June 05, 2026 06:34 pm IST
