Chennai, Sep 7 (IANS): With the increased discharge of water from Mettur dam in Salem, a flood alert has been sounded on the banks of the Kollidam river in Cuddalore.

An alert has been sounded across the banks of the river Kollidam as water has been discharged at the rate of 90,000 cusecs from the Mettur dam.

The Cuddalore district collector has urged the people living on the banks of the river to be cautious as the water in the river can go up any time following the release of water from the Mettur dam. He has also directed the people not to venture into water bodies for swimming, fishing or any other purpose as the water level can go up at any time. The district collector also cautioned against taking selfies on the river banks as the possibility of falling into the river was high.

For the past few days, rains have been lashing Salem, Erode, and Cuddalore districts of Tamil Nadu, and many reservoirs are already full with the heavy inflow into the water and the rains in the catchment areas.

Two elderly women lost their lives in Salem after heavy rains lashed the area. The deceased have been identified as Palaniyammal (80) who is a resident of Dr Rathinam Street near Swaminathapuram in the district and Rukmani (78) resident of Govinda Goundar in Peramanur.

Salem district officials told IANS that they were living alone in their homes and Palaniyammal had difficulty walking. Salem corporation Mayor, Ramachandran told IANS that there was a sudden blockage of canals in Govinda Goundar Thottam and Swaminathapuram and hence water entered the houses. He said that rescue operations are on and that the situation was under control.