Miscreants damaged the lower portion of the sluice gate of the lake at Marudadu village, near Vandavasi, in Tiruvannamalai on Friday, leading to waterlogging in the surrounding farmlands. After eight hours of hard labour, the damaged portion was plugged with 580 sandbags, preventing further inundation of the farmlands in the surrounding villages on Saturday.
Officials of Public Works Department (PWD), who worked in coordination with the district administration to fix the gate, said around 10 p.m. on Friday, Collector B. Murugesh got an alert about the breach of water from the lake after miscreants reportedly damaged the lower portion of the sluice gate. They had reportedly wanted to fish in the discharged water.
The lake was auctioned by the district administration for fishing. However, despite the searing heat, the water level in the lake had not reduced drastically, causing the miscreants to damage one of the sluice gates, the officials said. “Stern action will be taken against such damage to public property. Crop damage will be assessed in the affected area,” Mr. Murugesh told The Hindu.
