Rocks fall on road as rain batters Nilgiris, flood alert continues on Bhavani banks

Traffic came to a halt on the Gudalur-Mysuru national highway after a huge tree got uprooted near Marapalam around 7 am. Braving heavy rain, a team of fire and rescue personnel removed it by using an electric saw. After about one and a half hour, the traffic resumed on the busy stretch.

On Tuesday night at ‘O’ Valley, huge boulders rolled down to the road blocking Barwood-bound vehicles and buses coming from Gudalur. Lack of bus connectivity also affected the residents of Ellamalai and Periasholai.

After a day-long struggle, a joint team of officials from the Highways and Transport departments, along with the Panchayat staff removed the boulders by engaging earth movers. The traffic resumed on Wednesday around 11 am. In most areas in O Valley, people also suffered due to poor mobile connectivity.

Villages including Ayyankolli, Kolichal and many areas in Pandalur taluk witnessed long hours of power outages as tree branches falling on electricity lines disrupting supply.

The heavy rains brought by an intensified South West Monsoon forced schools and colleges to be shut in Gudalur and Pandalur Taluks. Similarly, schools and colleges remained closed for the third consecutive day in Valparai hills.

However, educational institutions functioned as usual in Ooty, Coonoor, Kothagiri and Kundah in The Nilgiris.

Many dams have reached nearly their full level due to heavy downpour in the catchment areas. The storage level in Kundah dam in The Nilgiris has touched 88 feet against its full capacity of 89 feet. Significantly, the dam has filled up after three long years.

Also, the shutters of Sholayar dam, which was opened last in August 2004, was raised on Wednesday and 622.92 cusecs was being released to Kerala.

The dam’s capacity is 160 feet, but it has gone beyond 164.55 feet. Tourists have been thronging the dam to see the dam brimming with water. The Siruvani dam in Coimbatore has already reached its full capacity of 50 feet.

Flood alert issued to people along the banks of River Bhavani continues as the river has been in full spate. Heavy downpour has continued to lash Coimbatore too.