3 JCBs’ in Mettur gutted in fire
This year, the new Salem collector S A Raman kick-started the de-silting on July 18.
SALEM: Three JCBs’ deployed in Mulakaadu area of the Stanley reservoir at Mettur near here for de-silting purposes, suddenly went up in flames in the wee hours of Sunday.
The work taken up this year before Mettur received Cauvery waters from Karnataka, is part of the massive multi-phase de-silting of the Mettur reservoir initiated by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami in 2017 and handing over the dredged ‘Vandal Mann’ (top soil) free to farmers to enrich soil in their fields.
This year, the new Salem collector S A Raman kick-started the de-silting on July 18.
Over 20 JCBs’ pressed into service for the contract work had been parked there for the night, but in a sudden development, three of the JCBs’ went up in flames. Police and fire brigade from Kolathur rushed to the spot and battled for over an hour to put out the flames.
The value of the 3 gutted JCBs’ is said to be Rs 90 lakh.
Further investigations are on.