Two killed in rain-related incidents in Nilgiris, most streams in spate

The deceased were identified as K Ravi, 50, from Kakkanji Nagar in Sholur and Sadiq Ali, 40, from RC Colony. Ravi was heading to his farm, when a huge tree fell on him, while Sadiq Ali died in a tree fall on his way to collect firewood.

“At least 100 trees had fallen due to strong winds rather than rain. These fallen trees on roads were removed on a war footing to ensure movement of vehicles. Additional staff from neighbouring districts has been engaged for the purpose,” said District Fire Officer, T Immanuel.

As torrential rains continued for the third consecutive day, multiple incidents of wall collapse and land slips were reported across the district. Though rains eased a bit since morning in Gudalur and Pandalur taluks, it continued unabated in Udhagamandalam and its neighbouring areas.

Villagers at Mankuzhi area in Gudalur urged RDO Rajkumar, Gudalur Municipality Commissioner Baskaran and officials of the Revenue Department, who inspected the inundated locality, to initiate measures to clear encroachments on a stream flowing down the way. They complained that their neighbourhood gets flooded during every rain due to encroachments blocking the stream.

The Nilgiris district recorded an average of 77.29 millimeters of rain with Avalanche receiving the highest rainfall of 390 millimeters, while Upper Bhavani witnessed 306 millimeters. Gudalur and Devala received over 125 millimeters of rain over a 24-hour period till Wednesday morning.

Similarly, many parts of Coimbatore continued to receive heavy rains and strong winds destroyed thousands of plantain crops in rural areas. With the Bhavani river in spate, the flood alert in Mettupalayam area continued for the second consecutive day due to heavy discharge from Pillur dam.

Also, the heavy discharge of water from Kabini dam in Karnataka is likely to reach Tamil Nadu by Wednesday night.