Heavy rain hits normalcy in Nilgiris

CHENNAI: Heavy rain disrupted normalcy in the Nilgiris and parts of Coimbatore district abutting the western ghats on Thursday.

While one person was washed away in the flash floods in Coimbatore, traffic to Nilgiris was hit for five hours as the roads were blocked due to landslips. The Nilgiris Mountain Railway services were also cancelled till November 30 due to landslides and uprooting of trees on the track.

Coimbatore district received heavy rainfall with Mettupalayam receiving the highest of 37cm rainfall in the 24 hours ending on Thursday morning. Nilgiris district too received widespread rainfall in the same period.

Schools in the Nilgiris district remained closed. In the Coimbatore district, schools in Karamadai union in Mettupalayam alone were shut for the day due to incessant showers. State tourism minister K Ramachandran and Nilgiris MP A Raja inspected the rain-affected areas in Coonoor. Two teams of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) are likely to reach Nilgiris for rescue operations.

As heavy rain lashed the southern districts by Thursday morning, district administrations of Theni, Virudhunagar, Tenkasi, Tirunelveli, Kanyakumari and Tuticorin districts declared holidays for schools.

Wild streams swelled due to the rain and water overflowed into villages and low-lying areas in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts.


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