Heavy rain in Coonoor damages roads, uproots trees

Heavy rain in Coonoor causes landslips, uproots trees, and leads to cancellations of train services in the area.

Heavy rain lashed Coonoor and surrounding areas uprooting trees and causing landslips in multiple areas.

Officials from the fire and rescue services in the Nilgiris and the highways department said trees were uprooted in 14 locations due to intense rain. Multiple landslips were also reported in Coonoor, Coonoor- Mettupalayam Road and Kotagiri-Mettupalayam Road, where a retaining wall had collapsed. Work was on to clear the damage and sandbags were used to buttress the surrounding slope.

The Nilgiris district administration stated that an average of 25.84 mm rainfall was recorded across the Nilgiris till Monday morning. However, rain gauges from Coonoor, Burliar, Coonoor rural and Hulical recorded more than 80 mm of rainfall in each area. An elementary school in Burliar had been inundated.

Officials said that damage included the caving in of a bridge in Krishnapuram, the collapse of a retaining wall in the same area and damage to homes and landslips in Gandhipuram and surrounding areas. Fortunately, no further loss of life or injuries had so far been reported since Sunday.

P. Krishnamurthi, District Fire Officer (Nilgiris), said that due to the heavy rain since Friday, one taxi driver was killed when a dried tree fell on his vehicle near Wellington on Saturday. On Sunday, another woman was injured when a portion of her house collapsed.

“We have mobilised more than 30 personnel who have been stationed in Coonoor and are working to clear fallen trees and assisting in clearing landslips throughout the day and night,” said Mr. Krishnamurthi.

The Nilgiris District Collector, Lakshmi Bhavya Tanneeru, said in a press release that apart from 42 zonal teams maintaining their vigil at 283 landslip-prone areas across the district, 3,500 first responders and 200 Aaptamitra volunteers were in a state of readiness to handle emergencies.