OOTY: Landslips in a couple of places and uprooting of trees in a few spots rocked the Nilgiris as autumn showers have begun to wreck damage in the hills.
Thunder showers continued for the past four days at night, worrying residents. But, it is considered to be highly beneficial to standing crops and tea plantations.
However, from Tuesday, the heavy showers made their appearance in the day too in the central, south and western parts of the Nilgiris.
On Tuesday evening, heavy downpour accompanied by thunder pounded the Kundah slopes near here, and storm water gushed down the slopes near Kundah Palam along the Kundah reservoir and brought down a huge mass of soil and rocks down to the road.
This landslip along the road instantly blocked traffic on the busy Ooty-Kundah road. Officials worked overnight to clear the mess on one side of the road to resume traffic. As this slope near the Kundah Palam is now identified as highly susceptible to landslides, the disaster management teams in the area have taken necessary precautionary measures to avoid any untoward incidents there.
Likewise, on Wednesday morning, rains in the Coonoor slopes triggered a minor landslip near the Aruvankadu area and paralyzed traffic on the Aruvankadu-Hubathalai road for a while. Uprooting of trees in and around Coonoor too caused minor damages to the slopes.
As weathermen have forecast more rains in the coming days, the district administration in the Nilgiris is in a state of alert. Disaster management teams are kept ready in all the taluks across the district to respond to any emergencies during the rains.
