Rain woes continue in Tamil Nadu's Nilgiris district, 18 cm rainfall recorded

COONOOR:  Rain fury continued in The Nilgiris on Thursday with as much as 188.6 mm rainfall being recorded in 24 hours ending at 8.30 am.

Two rain-gauge stations recorded rainfall exceeding 200 mm - Gudalur 227 mm and upper Gudalur 224 mm. Avalanchi received 195 mm, upper Bhavani 179 mm, Devala 163 mm, Naduvattam 147 mm, Pandalur 123 mm and Glenmorgan 115 mm.

District collector SP Amrith declared holiday for schools on Thursday in Gudalur, Pandalur, Kundah and Ooty. Traffic was affected for several hours in Gudalur-Kozhikode, Gudalur-Mysore and Gudalur-Ooty roads as trees had fallen on the road.  The uprooted trees were removed promptly and traffic flow restored.

The Mayar and Mankuzhi rivers were flooded causing breaches on the roads in Masinagudi and Theppakadu.  Some interior roads including Chembala-Ettimula and Purmanvayal were damaged.

Forest Minister K Ramachandran inspected the sites where Mankuzhi and Kalampuzha bridges were washed away by flash floods on Wednesday. He said the issue has been taken up with the government for repair or replacement works. Also, he visited nine persons staying in Kozhipalam flood relief centres and distributed relief items.

The minister said so far during the rains, one life has been lost, six suffered injuries. 45 houses have been partially damaged, and landslides had occurred in three places in the district. Meanwhile, ghastly winds swept through Coonoor on Thursday forcing people don warm clothes.   There were several bouts of power cut in the town during the day.