Rain plays havoc in Coonoor town

Udhagamandalam: Heavy showers that lashed Coonoor taluk on Saturday night triggered 14 landslides on the Coonoor – Mettupalayam Road (NH67).

Eleven vehicles were washed away from the Coonoor town and three two-wheelers were caught in the landslide. Several houses in Krishnapuram area were flooded.

Four huge trees and boulders fell on the road, blocking traffic since 3am, Sunday. Traffic from Mettupalayam to the hills was diverted through the Mettupalayam –Kotagiri Road.

Coonoor registered 139mm rainfall, while Burliar and Kotagiri recorded 58mm and 57mm respectively in 24 hours ending 7am on Sunday. However, the other five taluks in the Nilgiris were not affected. Ooty recorded 12.3mm rain.

It took nearly six hours to clear the road with the help of fire service personnel and forest department staff and make way for single lane traffic, assistant divisional engineer of the state highways (NH wing) Kuzhandairaju told TOI. “The road was opened at 8am. We struggled till the evening to fully open the road.”

Six earthmovers and two tipper trucks were used to clear the road between Coonoor and Marapalam. “Not much damage was reported between Marapalam and Burliar,” the official said.

Eleven vehicles, including two trucks, two autorickshaws, two cars and five motorcycles were washed away in the floods from Krishnapuram. Three motorcycles were buried in mud. “Fifty houses in Krishnapuram and Nonsuch Estate quarters were flooded,” a revenue department official said.

The weather was favourable for TNEB, forest department, fire service department and highways to conduct disaster mitigation measures on Sunday.

Coonoor sub-collector Ranjit Singh and Nilgiris SP V Sasi Mohan inspected the places.