Nilgiris landslides: Kottayam school group among hundreds stranded on Mettupalayam-Ooty road
Relentless overnight rain in Tamil Nadu caused severe landslides, killing one bus driver and stranding travellers. Authorities have subsequently banned tourism in the Nilgiris and Kodaikanal until twenty-sixth October amid widespread road disruptions.
Relentless overnight rain in Tamil Nadu caused severe landslides, killing one bus driver and stranding travellers. Authorities have subsequently banned tourism in the Nilgiris and Kodaikanal until twenty-sixth October amid widespread road disruptions.
Relentless overnight rain in Tamil Nadu caused severe landslides, killing one bus driver and stranding travellers. Authorities have subsequently banned tourism in the Nilgiris and Kodaikanal until twenty-sixth October amid widespread road disruptions.
Ooty: Landslides were reported from several locations along the Mettupalayam-Ooty National Highway and the Mettupalayam-Kotagiri State Highway as heavy rain continues to lash Ooty on Saturday. A government bus driver was killed at Burliyar around midnight after mud and rocks fell on the bus. The deceased has been identified as Kanakaraj, 50, from Bettatti in Ooty.
Meanwhile, a school group from Kottayam was stranded after a vegetable truck travelling ahead of its bus lost control in the rain and plunged nearly 100 feet into a gorge. The incident triggered severe traffic congestion in the area.
The group, comprising 78 students and eight teachers from Bookana Girls High School in Pallom, Chingavanam, had been stranded on the road since 11 pm on Friday while returning from an excursion.
Rescue workers moved another bus damaged by a fallen tree to one side of the road and used ropes to help the stranded students and teachers cross to the other side. Teachers confirmed that everyone in the group was safe. They were expected to return to Kottayam in the early hours of Saturday.
The students and teachers are being moved to a school in Mettupalayam. The evacuation is progressing slowly because of heavy traffic congestion. Tamil Nadu authorities have provided food and drinking water for the students, teachers said. The incident comes amid the Pooja holiday period, when several schools in Kerala organise excursions to Ooty.
Heavy rain has been pounding the Nilgiris district and the foothill town of Mettupalayam from Friday night through Saturday morning. Landslides have been reported at 14 locations along the Coonoor road and three locations along the Kotagiri road. At present, only one bus remains trapped in the mud. Nilgiris District Collector Lakshmi Bhavya Taneeru said tourist activities in the district would remain restricted until October 26.
Travellers are walking several kilometres to reach safe locations, while the district administration is arranging food and drinking water for those affected.
Travel restrictions and road closures
Landslides have been reported at 14 locations along the Coonoor road and three spots on the Kotagiri route. Major roads, including the Mettupalayam-Ooty National Highway and the Mettupalayam-Kotagiri State Highway, remain severely disrupted.
Coimbatore Regional Inspector General Ramya Bharathi is supervising emergency operations on the ground. Police have blocked entry points to the Nilgiris at Mettupalayam.
Nilgiris District Collector Lakshmi Bhavya Taneeru has announced a ban on tourist movement in the district until October 26. All public transport, including government buses bound for Ooty, has been halted at the Mettupalayam bus station.
The severe weather has also affected Kodaikanal, where heavy mudslides in the Sembaganur area brought down two electricity poles and caused deep fissures along major roads.
Authorities have banned tourist travel and vehicular movement to Kodaikanal as a precautionary measure. Officials have urged the public to postpone all non-essential travel to hill stations across the region until weather conditions improve.