Four persons were battling for their lives perching themselves on top of a tree after falling into a swollen River Cauvery near the famous tourist spot of Hogennakal in the district today, officials said.
A team of National Disaster Response Force from Arakkonam, about 350 km from Hogennakal in the district, was on its way to the spot while the state Fire and Rescue Service and forest department personnel were also engaged in operations to save the four, Divisional Forest Officer Pradeepkumar said.
District Collector K.Vivekanandan and Superintendent of Police Asra Garg were monitoring the rescue operations continuing under flood lights.
Police said Durairaj (40) of Sellankottai was performing last rites of a family member on the banks of Cauvery, which is in spate, when he slipped and fell into the swirling waters at Mamarathukadu, 52 km from here, in Hogenakkal this evening.
However, fortunately he managed to latch on to a branch of a tree in the middle of the river and climbed it.
District Revenue Office P Ramar and his team of officials, keeping a vigil in the Hogenakkal area in view of the flood alert following heavy discharge of water by Karnataka into Cauvery since last week, rushed to the spot and persuaded coracle operators to rescue the man.
Braving the floods, three small boat operators entered the river in their craft but that also capsized. They also managed to cling to the same tree on which Durairaj was sitting.
PWD officials said water flow in Cauvery at Billigundalu, on Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border, was recorded at 1.52 lakh cusecs by the Central Water Gauge station at 5 pm.
As a consequence, the Mettur Dam, the main storage across Cauvery in Tamil Nadu, is poised to attain its Full Reservoir Level of 120 feet after a gap of eight years, prompting officials to issue two flood warnings 11 downstream districts.
The entire inflow was being discharged through the 16 sluice gates, offering a visual treat. The water level today stood at 118.54 feet.
