COIMBATORE/COONOOR: A 26-year-old woman IT employee drowned while she tried to click a selfie on the banks of Sigurhalla river at Kalhatti in Nilgiris on Saturday. The body was recovered near the twentieth hairpin bend at the foothills of Kalhatti slopes around 9 am on Sunday.
According to police, the woman, identified as Vineetha Choudhary (26) of Nellore who was working in Bengaluru, stayed in a resort at Kalhatti with her family and friends. On Saturday, sh allegedly entered the Kalhatti falls, which was closed for public, and tried to click selfies but was swept away ny the string currents.
Search operations by fire and rescue service personnel and police from Pudumud station had to be suspended due to nightfall and rising water levels in the river.
Subsequently, State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel started their rescue operation based on a requst from the district administration. The team found Vineetha dead on Sunday morning. The body got stuck in a tree one-and-a-half km away from the spot where she drowned, sources said.
Nilgiris police and the district administration have launched a probe into the resort to ascertain if it facilitated the group’s entry into the Kalhatti waterfall.
It may be noted that another resort in the locality was sealed and its two staff were arrested on July 3 allegedly for misguiding tourists into prohibited area which led the tourist to face an accident. A 29-year-old woman died and 17 others were seriously injured after their van fell off the Kalhatti ghat road.
Rescue operations continue
Meanwhile two teams of TNDRF continue to engage in rescue operations - 40 members in Ooty and another 40 members in Gudalur. They worked on removing trees along the Ooty-Gudalur road.
Rains continued in parts of The Nilgiris and for the 24 hours ending 8:30 am on Sunday, a rainfall of 422 mm was recorded. Upper Bhavani received 68 mm, Avalanchi 67 mm, Naduvatttam 58 mm, Pandalur 42 mm and Cherangode 40 mm.
"Although the district administration had identified 283 places as prone for landslides, it has not stopped the mushrooming of unauthorised constructions in these places, nor removed the ones already cropped up. We have urged the Government to act as this threatens loss to life and property," S Manogaran, councillor of Koderi, told The New Indian Express.
Torrential rains damaged some tea bushes in Edakkadu village. In Gudalur taluk, traffic has been restored on the Theppakadu bridge although the road has been damaged heavily. Forest officials said the rains have increased the storage in ponds inside the forests helping wildlife quench their thirst.