Five killed in rain-related incidents in Nilgiris

Coimbatore: Heavy rainfall in the Nilgiris has claimed five lives since Thursday.
Amudha, 38, and her daughter Bhavana, 8, were killed after a portion of a building collapsed on them near Pykara on Thursday morning.
Amudha’s son Lokeshwaran escaped with severe injuries and was admitted to the Ooty government hospital.
In another incident, two women employees of the horticulture department, Sushila, 38, and Vimala, 40, were washed away by rising flood waters while crossing a stream on Thursday evening. They were returning to their homes in Kuruthukulli near Nanjanad. An unidentified worker from north was found dead at Kattukuppai near Emerald.
On Wednesday, a 65-year-old man died when a building collapsed on the outskirts of Udhagamandalam.
Meanwhile, an air force chopper from the Sulur Airforce base touched down around 6pm with food packets near Tangedco station at Kaattukuppai, where 40 people are stranded after the downpour, in Avalanche.
A family of four was airlifted from the station to Sulur and taken to the district collectorate in Coimbatore by road. Later, the family went to their relatives’ house in Karamadai.
Announcing a solatium of Rs 10 lakh each to the family members of the five people who were killed in rain-related incidents in the district, chief minister Edappadi K Palaniswami said the government was working on rescuing 36 people stranded at Kaattukuppai.
“We have sent 491 personnel, including people from state and national disaster rescue teams, and the army for rescue and relief work in the district. Around 1,700 people were rescued and relocated to 28 disaster rescue centres,” Palaniswami said. “We have ordered rescue centres to be equipped with drinking water, generators, food, medicines to prevent disease outbreaks and clothes,” he said.
The chief minister said the district administration has also been allotted 29 earthmovers to clear out landslides and fallen trees. Revenue and disaster management minister R B Udhayakumar oversaw rescue operations in the district.
Speaking to reporters, Udhayakumar said the government was taking steps to move displaced people to safety.
However, DMK president M K Stalin slammed the state government for not taking precautionary measures despite warnings about heavy rainfall in the Nilgiris.