Chennai, Oct 19 (IANS): A flood alert has been sounded in 20 villages of Vellore in Tamil Nadu, after 844 cusecs of water was discharged from the Mordhana dam to the river Koundinya, a tributary of Palar.

Vellore district collector Kumarvel Pandian issued the alert.

In the wake of heavy rains pounding Vellore district and catchment areas like Chitoor, Ponnai, Pallar, Goudanya mahanadhi and Malattar for the past few days, water was discharged from Mordhana dam in Gudiyatham.

The district administration has already constituted special teams, including officers from the Water Resources Department, fire fighters, officials of the revenue, police, health and electricity departments.

According to officials in the Vellore district collectorate, these teams will monitor and inspect low lying areas, ponds, water bodies,tanks and shutters of all tanks to ensure that there is no breach.

The teams will also conduct a close monitoring of the water bodies in the district with special emphasis on rivers and tributaries that had overflown in the past.

Notably, Katpadi, Gudiyatham and Kannamangalam in Vellore have received heavy rains for the past few days.

The officials with the local bodies, including panchayats and municipalities are also in the team of officials.