Pollachi-Valparai road caves in, stranded families rescued in Tirupur

Vehicular movement on the Pollachi-Valparai Road has been suspended on Thursday after a major portion of the road caved in near the Forest Department check post in Aliyar following heavy rains.

TNSTC buses, other heavy vehicles and four wheelers were completely banned for more than three hours. Traffic resumed around noon after the highways department staff carried out repair works.

In Tirupur, a few families stranded in their inundated residential locality in Avinashipalayam were rescued by fire service personnel using air filled boats. Continuous downpour since the previous night led to flooding of houses in Balaji Nagar. At least 11 persons, including five children, from two families were rescued and sheltered in a government school.

In a rain related incident, 75-year-old Chinnasamy was washed away while his son Selvakumar, 25, was rescued by the fire service personnel, when they attempted to drive through a flooded causeway connecting Anikkadavu- Vagatholuvu villages near Udumalpet in their load auto on Wednesday night.

The villagers spotted Selvakumar holding firm to a tree branch in the flooded waters and informed the fire service personnel, who rescued him after a struggle of three hours.

In The Nilgiris, heavy rains triggered mud slips on Ooty- Pudumund Road and a house collapsed in the Vandicholai area. Eight persons trapped after a compound wall collapse on two houses at Pudhu Nagar in Kandhal were rescued by the fire and rescue personnel. Also, water entered into more than 100 houses at Kandhal.