In a shocking revelation, despite prior warnings from the Central Water Commission, which issued an Official Flood Forecast along with a Special Flood Advisory for Tamil Nadu on 29 November 2024, predicting severe floods until 3 December 2024, and urging adherence to SOPs for controlled water releases, the Tamil Nadu government seems to have failed to act accordingly. Instead, water was released haphazardly during the night of heavy rains, resulting in severe disasters in districts such as Tiruvannamalai.
On 29 November 2024, The Central Water Commission issued an Official Flood Forecast and a Special Flood Advisory for Tamil Nadu, warning of severe weather due to the intensification of a deep depression over the southwest Bay of Bengal. This system is expected to bring extremely heavy rainfall to coastal areas of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh on 29 and 30 November 2024.
Afterwards, the rainfall will shift to Kerala, neighbouring Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka on 1 and 2 December 2024. The advisory also forecasts increased runoff into rivers such as Korttalaiyar, Vellar, Gummanur, Varahanadi, and both Upper and Lower South Pennar over the next 72 hours. Additionally, heavy runoff is expected in rivers like Bhavani, Kabini, Aliyar, Kallar, and tributaries of the Cauvery, affecting districts like Nilgiris, Erode, Tiruppur, Coimbatore, Tiruchirappalli, and Dindigul until 3 December 2024. There will also be increased inflow into major reservoirs like Sathanur Dam, Gomukhi, Poondi, Chembarambakkam, and Wellington Dam, requiring operations as per SOP and controlled releases after notifying downstream areas.
Special Flood Advisory for Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry, Karaikal & Kerala for the period 29.11.2024 to 03.12.2024 is at linkhttps://t.co/omYT0GNoCW@AndhraPradeshCM@CMOKerala@tnsdma@CMOTamilnadu@APSDMA@KeralaSDMA@LGov_Puducherry
— Central Water Commission Official Flood Forecast (@CWCOfficial_FF) November 29, 2024
Despite flood warning from the center, panic swept through the residents of Tiruvannamalai district in Tamil Nadu as heavy rains, exacerbated by the impact of Cyclone Fengal, triggered severe floods. The lack of action and inefficiency at the state level contributed to the chaos.
Among the devastation was a newly constructed bridge across the South Pennar River, which was inaugurated on 2 September by DMK PWD Minister E. V. Velu. The 250-meter bridge, built at a cost of ₹15.9 crore to connect two villages, was washed away on 3 December 2024.
The Public Works Department (PWD) explained that the bridge had been designed to handle a discharge of 54,417 cusecs, but excessive rainfall forced water to be released from the Sathanur Dam at nearly two lakh cusecs, causing significant damage. The bridge, supported by 11 pillars and located 24 kilometers downstream of the dam, could not withstand the surge.
In Tamil Nadu’s western region, torrential rain caused widespread disruption. The flow of the Cauvery River at Hogenakkal in Dharmapuri district surged from 5,500 cusecs on Monday to 14,000 cusecs by Tuesday morning, and further to 30,000 cusecs by evening. This prompted the district administration to suspend coracle rides and bathing at the falls.
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