Erode:
Faced with dwindling storage, a special 'yagam' was conducted on Sunday at the Lower Bhavani Reservoir area, lifeline of Erode district farmers, seeking divine help to bring rains.
As against the full capacity of 32 tmc feet, only three tmc feet was available due to failure of seasonal rains in the catchment area.
Water from the reservoir irrigates more than three lakh acres in a year.
Officials said the Public Works Department arranged for the special 'yagam' for rain.
Twenty-three priests conducted the three-hour 'yagam' in which Public Works Minister K.V. Ramalingam, Revenue Minister N.D. Venkatachalam, District Collector V.K. Shanmugam, among others, participated.
Officials said the district is in the grip of drought and hundreds of wells and thousands of borewells had dried up