Rains trigger mud slips, hit traffic on Yercaud, Nilgiris ghat roads

Vehicle movement on the hill pathway came to a grinding halt following a mud slip on the third hairpin bend on Monday night. Heavy rains have been lashing the hills over the last three days.

The highways department has engaged men and machinery to remove the obstruction. All the four wheelers and TNSTC buses were stopped by police in the check post at the foothills and diverted through Kuppanur Road causing inconvenience to the public.

Similarly, heavy rains triggered minor mud slips in several areas in Udhagamandalam and Coonoor. Traffic was disrupted for more than an hour following a tree fall near Burliar on Mettupalayam-Coonoor Road. The fallen tree was removed by the fire and rescue personnel after strenuous efforts.

Meanwhile, the continuing rains hampered the restoration works of the NMR track affected by mud slips between Kallar and Hillgrove railway stations. Hence, the cancellation of the NMR special train between Mettupalayam – Udagamandalam has been extended till Wednesday. However, the NMR services between Coonoor – Udagamandalam were being operated as usual.

Meanwhile, a flood alert has been issued to people living along the banks of River Bhavani following a heavy discharge of 8,000 cusecs from Pillur dam on Tuesday. Copious rains in catchment areas led to a sharp increase in inflow into the dam taking the storage level to 97 feet as against its full reservoir capacity of 100 feet.