Widespread rain on the ghat section along the Kodaikanal and Palani stretch resulted in the fall of huge boulders that blocked vehicular movement for about four hours on Saturday.
Following a complaint from local villagers that boulders had fallen on the road near Kombaikadu, the Highways engineers rushed to the spot in the morning.
Initially, two-wheelers alone could cross the section as the boulders had blocked the carriage space, they said and added that after about four hours, the boulders were cleared and traffic resumed around 4 p.m.
The Highways engineers said that they have temporarily cleared the boulders, but cautioned the motorists to keep a vigil while passing the ghat section. “Due to heavy rainfall in the interior forest region, the soil has become loose and slippery. As a result, the boulders rolled off the hills,” they said.
Essential commodities such as milk, meat and vegetables could not be moved to the hill station in the morning, a villager at Kombaikadu said. A police officer who was supervising at the spot said that incessant rains over the last few days in Kodaikanal hills had forced many tourists to postpone their trips due to the inclement weather. This had in a way helped as there was thin traffic movement on the ghat section.
Forest department officials said that they were also monitoring the north-east monsoon as pockets like Pachalur, Thandikudi and Pandrimalai in the district experienced heavy rains in the last 24 hours and water was flowing into Kudaganaru.
A private hotelier in Kodaikanal said that tourist flow was thin since Thursday as Cyclone Nivar had forced people from Bangalore and Chennai to postpone their travel plans.