District Collector inspects areas affected by heavy rain in the Nilgiris

Nilgiris District Collector inspects Coonoor areas damaged by rain, road connectivity being restored, dangerous trees being removed.

The Nilgiris District Collector, Lakshmi Bhavya Tanneeru on Tuesday inspected areas in Coonoor that suffered severe infrastructure damage due to heavy rain.

A press release from the district administration said that the Collector inspected a retaining wall near a private school in Coonoor, and the road from Pilloor Mattam to Anaipallam that were damaged during the rain.

Officials in the Hulical town panchayat in Coonoor said that around 60 workers have been working since the rain ceased on Tuesday, to restore road connectivity to the village of Anaipallam and surrounding tribal hamlets.

Local residents said that the road was now open only for emergency service vehicles. If the road was not fully restored, the people would have to walk a total of six km from Anaipallam to Pilloor Mattam, they said. “As there are no buses, a round-trip would mean that people would need to walk 12 km to and from the nearest bus stand and back to the village,” they said, adding that a taxi service that carried people to and from the village was the only alternative they had to walking.

As a temporary measure, the road is being supported with sandbags as workers from the panchayat attempt to restore connectivity to the village.

Meanwhile, the Tamil Nadu Forest Department has begun the process of enumerating dangerous trees located by the side of the road. The move comes in the wake of a taxi driver being killed when a tree fell on top of his vehicle on Saturday.