Landslide blocks traffic on Kodaikanal road
Relentless downpour for more than 48 hours at Kodaikanal and Palani hills had resulted in landslides and roads being blocked by boulders at various places. According to sources, rocks have slid off the hills and blocked the road in more than 10 places. Workers of Kodaikanal municipality and PWD used JCBs to clear the soil and large boulders that had slipped on the road.
By : migrator
Update: 2017-09-03 19:06 GMT
Madurai
Boulders of varying sizes had rolled down the hills and workers had a hard time clearing them. A huge rock of 2,500 tonnes made the job even more difficult. As they were left with no other go, the officials decided to explode the rock and clear the debris. “These works will take more than a fortnight and only then the road can become motorable,” said the officials.
Sources said a number of trees had fallen on the Batlagundu-Kodaikanal road at three spots but were cleared immediately. Now, all the vehicles are allowed only through the Batlagundu road and vehicles from Kerala and Coimbatore region have to travel an 100 km extra to reach Kodaikanal via Batlaguntu, added sources.
However, residents of Kodaikanal are happy that the rain had brought the much needed relief from drought. They are also hopeful that the rain would help recharge the water bodies in the area.
Kodaikanal is one of the favourite tourist destinations in the state and tourists from Kerala and Karnataka visit the hill station frequently. As Onam falls on Monday, tourists from Kerala and Coimbatore are on their way to Kodaikanal via Palani hills.
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