Restoration works rally in Nilgiris

COIMBATORE: Heavy rain battered the Nilgiris for the third consecutive day on Sunday, triggering multiple incidents of landslides and tree falls, disrupting road traffic and hampering restoration work.

After a brief lull until noon, heavy rain resumed in Ooty and Coonoor. Trees fell across the suspended Nilgiri Mountain Railway track near Lovedale railway station and on the Ooty-Manjoor road, disrupting movement. Another tree fell on a parked car near the Rose Garden. Over the past two days, tree falls, mudslides and boulders blocking roads were reported at around 30 locations on the Ooty-Mettupalayam and Kotagiri-Ooty ghat roads.

Continuous rain hampered restoration work, a day after a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation bus driver was killed and its conductor injured in a landslide near Burliyar on the Mettupalayam-Ooty road.

All tourist attractions remained closed across the district while Collector Lakshmi Bhavya Tanneeru advised tourists to avoid visiting the hills. As a precaution, vehicle movement, including government buses, was prohibited between 6 pm and 7 am, except for vehicles carrying essential supplies. Traffic was allowed only through the Kotagiri route in the daytime, resulting in congestion. Residents of floodprone Muthamizh Nagar were accommodated at a relief camp in a government school. Meanwhile, a 15-member rescue team continued the search for Bojan (58) of Solur Mattam, who was swept away by flash floods.