Nilgiris landslides: bus driver killed, hundreds stranded on Ooty roads; Kozhikode on red alert

Torrential rain triggered a string of landslides across Tamil Nadu’s Nilgiris district between Friday night and Saturday, 24 October, killing a state transport bus driver and leaving hundreds of travellers stranded on the ghat roads to Ooty. The district remained under a red alert, and tourist movement has been barred until Monday, 26 October.

Next door in Kerala, Kozhikode, Malappuram and Wayanad are under a red alert for extremely heavy rain on Sunday, 25 October.

Driver killed near Burliyar, ghat roads cut off

The worst incident was near Burliyar on the Mettupalayam-Ooty road around midnight on Friday. Mud, rocks and uprooted trees came down on a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation bus, killing its driver. The conductor was seriously injured. According to DT Next, the bus had three passengers, but they had got off at an earlier stop before the slip.

The Coonoor road was among the hardest-hit routes. Onmanorama reported landslides at 14 points on the Coonoor road and three on the Kotagiri road, along with several slips on the Mettupalayam-Ooty National Highway. Separately, a vegetable truck fell nearly 100 feet into a gorge, worsening congestion. No casualties were reported in that incident.

Police stopped vehicles entering the Nilgiris at Mettupalayam, and public transport bound for Ooty was held at the Mettupalayam bus stand. The Nilgiri Mountain Railway service was also suspended, according to Deccan Herald.

Kerala students rescued with ropes

More than 300 people were stranded on the hill roads, including schoolchildren from Kerala who were on study tours. Police, fire and rescue personnel and district officials brought more than 150 students to safety.

Among them was a group of 78 students and eight teachers from a girls’ high school in Kottayam district, who had been stuck since about 11 pm on Friday. Rescuers cleared a bus that had been hit by a fallen tree and used ropes to help the group across the damaged stretch. Teachers said everyone was safe, and the group was moved to a school in Mettupalayam. The Tamil Nadu authorities arranged food and water for those who had been stranded.

Nilgiris Collector Lakshmi Bhavya Taneeru urged tourists not to travel to Ooty via the Mettupalayam, Coonoor and Kotagiri routes. NDRF and SDRF teams have been deployed in the district, and Coimbatore regional Inspector General Ramya Bharathi oversaw operations on the ground. Tourist spots in the district have been closed.

In Dindigul district, authorities also halted tourist and vehicle movement to Kodaikanal after mudslides near Sembaganur brought down electricity poles and cracked major roads.

More rain forecast; Kerala on red alert

The Regional Meteorological Centre in Chennai has forecast very heavy rain on Sunday for the Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Theni, Dindigul, Madurai, Sivaganga and Pudukkottai. Several other Tamil Nadu districts have closed schools on different days this week because of the heavy rain.

In Kerala, IMD has put Kozhikode, Malappuram and Wayanad on a red alert for Sunday, warning of more than 20 cm of rain in 24 hours. Sunday classes, tuition centres and religious study classes have been cancelled in the three districts, but scheduled examinations will go ahead. Kozhikode moves to a yellow alert on Monday, while Idukki and Palakkad are on a red alert that day.

Officials in both states have asked residents and tourists to avoid hilly and landslide-prone areas until the rain eases.

Sources

• Onmanorama: Nilgiris landslides: Kottayam school group among hundreds stranded on Mettupalayam-Ooty road; students rescued using ropes
• DT Next: Nilgiris on red alert as heavy rain triggers landslides; tourists advised to avoid hill routes
• DT Next: Tamil Nadu rains highlights: Schools closed in 5 districts including Chennai as twin low pressure areas loom
• Deccan Herald: Heavy rain batters TN’s Nilgiris: 1 dead in landslide, tourist spots closed as red alert issued
• Onmanorama: Kerala braces for heavy rain; red alert in 3 districts, Sunday classes cancelled