Trichy, August 19:  Amid heavy rainfall in several parts of Tamil Nadu, part of Kollidam bridge in Trichy collapsed and was washed away in the Cauvery river basin on Saturday night. The bridge, that connects Srirangam with the mainland, had developed a major crack due to the heavy flow of water, reports said. According to a report by ANI, the incident took place at around 1 am. No casualties have been reported so far. According to a report by TOI, the old steel bridge was built in the British era.  Officials informed that the crack developed on one of the piers of the bridge might deteriorate further leading to the collapse of a portion of the bridge.

Torrential rains continued to batter several districts of the state since the past week. The landslides and heavy rain have claimed six lives in the district since Thursday, the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said. Multiple agencies, including army’s one column of Dogra Regiment with 60 personnel, are involved in the operation.

Watch part of Kollidam bridge in Trichy collapses and gets washed away in the Cauvery river basin

On Saturday, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy announced a grant-in-aid of Rs 200 crore for relief work. About 200 personnel of the state fire service had rescued people in flood-hit towns and villages across the district with their boats and equipment. "Rains have been causing massive damage in Kodagu. The state officials, along with Indian Army troops, Navy divers are carrying out rescue and relief operations on war-footing," Kumaraswamy informed on Saturday.

The Chief Minister has announced that over 1000 security personnel including NDRF, Navy, Army, Fire Dept, Home Guards etc are involved in rescue operations in Kodagu. “Over 11,000 houses damaged. Six people have died in Kodagu. Air Force is lifting stranded people and dropping relief material. 200 NCC cadets also working. We are working non-stop,” he said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 19, 2018 09:56 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).