COIMBATORE: Maryland in The Nilgiris was the site of two more landslides on Monday. Only a few days ago, a landslide was reported just 400 metres from the recent one. This is the third landslide in this area in a week.
State Highways and Revenue departments are setting up nearly 400 sandbags at the two places to prevent further landslides. Meanwhile, another landslide was reported at Kinnakorai. As the debris had filled half the road, TNSTC bus services were stopped in the area. Restoration works are expected to be completed by Monday evening, after which bus services will be restored. Other vehicles are being allowed to use the traversable part of the road.
Road woes
Local residents have accused the National Highway department of using poor-quality bitumen to lay the Mettupalayam Road near Veerapandi pirivu. The new road has already been damaged in a few days of rain, they noted and have circulated an image of the road on social media.
Vulnerable area evacuated
A senior Revenue official said that people of Vinobaji Nagar in Ithalar will be moved to the relief camp at a nearby school as rainwater has inundated their houses. "This vulnerable area in Ooty hosts 40 families. We have readied grocery items at the school to make food for the people. Revenue officials have been given instructions to safely relocate them. Like Vinobaji Nagar, Geddai and Kinnakorai also are vulnerable areas. However, no one from these areas has had to be accommodated in relief camps."
A day off
The Nilgiris district received 665.6 mm of rain in the past 24 hours ending at 7.30 am on Monday. Ketti, with 62 mm, tops the list. With the red alert being issued, schools and colleges will be closed on Tuesday. In Coimbatore, after the district recorded rainfall of 601.40 mm in the same period, Collector K Rajamani declared Monday as a holiday for schools and colleges. Periyanacikenpalayam recorded the highest rainfall of 123 mm and Mettupalayam followed with 87.33 mm. The Collector would decide on declaring Tuesday as a holiday after monitoring the situation further.
A bounty in the works
S P Ramanathan, professor and Head of the TNAU's (Tamil Nadu Agricultural University) Agro Climate Research Centre, said that Coimbatore city has received 163.5 mm rainfall in the past five days. Average rainfall for the month of October has been 165 mm over the past ten years. If the current trend were to continue, the city can expect more rainfall than the average 305 mm from the Northeast monsoon, he said.
Huts in trouble
As many as 12 huts in Mettupalayam and Annur were destroyed in the past few days of heavy rainfall; 18 huts have been partially damaged. The district administration will provide the people with compensation.