For the second consecutive day on Tuesday, National Highways workers continued to remove rock, stone and debris that blocked traffic along the Mettupalayam to Coonoor Road following landslips and rock-falls.
Though the rain eased, workers continued to work through the morning to restore traffic on the route. Till work was completed, traffic was diverted via the Kotagiri Road, with officials expecting to open the Mettupalayam to Coonoor road for traffic by Wednesday morning.
An average of 46.52 mm of rain was recorded across the Nilgiris District till Tuesday morning, with Udhagamandalam, Coonoor, Kotagiri and Kundah receiving the most amount of rain. Coonoor alone received 13.2 cm of rain till Tuesday morning, officials said.
S. Kulanthairaj, Divisional Engineer, National Highways, oversaw work to remove the boulders from on the Mettupalayam-Coonoor Road, where a major landslip and rock-fall between Marapallam and Kattery Park continued to affect the flow of traffic.
More than 60 members of the National Disaster Response Force were also stationed in the taluks of Coonoor, Kotagiri and Kundah to deal with any emergencies that may arise in case the rain continued. They are said to be working with the full deployment of fire and rescue service personnel, whose numbers have been supplemented with additional manpower from Coimbatore and Tirupur.
The Salem division of the Southern Railway also announced that the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) services between Mettupalayam and Udhagamandalam would remain suspended till December 8.
