Heavy rain returns to haunt The Nilgiris as power trips, causeway and highways damaged

Heavy downpour resumed across the hills resulting in damage to a causeway at Puliamparai in Gudalur. It has been washed away in the resulting flood in Pandiyaru river. More than 200 families settled in ‘Kozhi Kolli,’ ‘Katharithodu’ and ‘Athurvayal’ hamlets were stranded as vehicle transport has been completely cut off due to washing away of the causeway.

People in villages, including Devala, Devar Sholai and ‘O’ Valley were also in for more trouble as rains resumed even before resumption of power connectivity to their neighbourhoods. They were reeling under power outage following disruptions in network due to intensive rains since August 2. Works are underway to restore electricity to these villages.

Also, movement of vehicles has been disrupted due to tree falls on a road from Devala to Kariasholai. A minor land slip also led to blocking of the way. The highways department and rescue teams from Tamil Nadu Disaster Management were involved in removing the fallen trees.

The national highway from Gudalur to Kerala through Pandalur have developed a crack near ‘Irumbu Palam’ area. The damaged portion has been barricaded and only one-way vehicle traffic is allowed through the way.

Many of the interior roads leading to villages in Gudalur and Pandalur taluks remain damaged due to heavy rains. District Collector Innocent Divya visited some of the damaged spots to take stock of the situation.

A few houses of estate workers in Neermattam in Gudalur have been damaged beyond repair and may fall off any time. Meanwhile, officials of the Revenue Department have been estimating the damages caused to houses to extend assistance to the affected families.