Traffic Curbs Lifted, Tourist Spots Reopen In Nilgiris
The hilly Nilgiris is limping back to normalcy after the heavy rains and landslides that inflicted eco damage to the hills.
Nilgiris: The hilly Nilgiris are limping back to normalcy after the heavy rains and landslides that inflicted ecological damage to the hills, which saw the Ooty-Coimbatore NH, the lone NH in the hills here, closed to traffic, with vehicles between Ooty and Coimbatore allowed via the Kotagiri road from dawn to dusk.
The rains which battered the hills since the first week of October, the period of onset of the northeast monsoon in the hills, though brought cheer to the hills here which recorded deficit rainfall in the preceding southwest monsoon season, culminated in damage to the slopes and loss of life due to a landslide last Friday night.
The landslide near Burliar and minor land-slips between the Coonoor-Burliar-Mettupalayam stretch of the Ooty-NH forced the closure of this NH for traffic since last Saturday.
The tourist spots across the Nilgiris, which were closed since Saturday due to the rains, were reopened now, and traffic curbs on the Ooty-Kotagiri-Coimbatore road, too, were lifted and saw traffic being allowed 24 hours without any restrictions on this road. This brought respite to the hill residents and hospitality industry as the Deepavali festival is fast approaching.
As the NH wing sweated it out all these days to clear the rubble and mess created by the landslides and minor land-slips along the Burliar stretch, sources said the wing here was expecting the arrival of experts to assess temporary restoration work in the Burliar-Coonoor stretch to resume traffic along the Ooty-Burliar-Coimbatore road.
It is believed that in the first phase, only one-way traffic will be allowed on this road till the permanent restoration works, which include constructing retaining walls and other road strengthening works, are completed.
