Heavy rain hits normal life in the Nilgiris

Surplus water released from the Emerald Dam near Udhagamandalam on Monday has partly submerged a temple. (Right) The job of keeping the lawns inside the Government Botanical Garden in Udhagamandalam attractive has been made difficult by the incessant rain.Heavy rains and bitter chill have affected normal life in various parts of the Nilgiris.While the Pandiyar-Punnampuzha river and many of the streams in Gudalur and surroundings were overflowing, water has touched the brim in most of the dams near here. Minor landslips occurred in some areas and storm water entered a few houses in parts of Gudalur, including Vedanvayal and Puranavayal.

Stating that the district administration was in a state of preparedness to tackle any eventuality, the Nilgiris Collector, Santosh K. Misra, told mediapersons here on Monday that the flood control centre at the Collectorate would function round-the-clock. For any assistance, people could contact phone number: 2444012.In view of the inclement weather, the Education Department was instructed to close schools in Ooty, Kundah, Pandhalur and Gudalur taluks for half-a-day on Monday. If the weather continued to be hostile, appropriate precautionary measures would be taken by the authorities concerned.

During the 24-hour period ending 8.30 a.m. on Monday, Avalanchi received 312 mm of rainfall, Upper Bhavani - 175, Naduvattam - 164, Gudalur - 145, Devala - 110, Glenmorgan - 102, Kundah - 49 and Ooty - 24.Among the dams where water has touched the brim were Upper Bhavani, Avalanchi, Emerald, Kundah, Pykara and Kamaraj Sagar. The Parsons Valley Hydel Reservoir was almost full.As a precautionary measure, surplus water from the Emerald Dam was released on Monday.Since some persons were either residing or cultivating crops on lands along the water course, the officials of the Tamil Nadu Electricity Board have been asked to inform the revenue authorities about plans to open the sluice gates of the overflowing dams.

Pointing out that since the beginning of the current wet season 28 dwellings had been fully damaged and 265 partially damaged, he said that relief had already been distributed to 273 persons.The government has been requested to provide more equipment to the Highways Department to clear road blocks.To a question, Mr. Misra said that trees uprooted by the strong winds over the last two months which were lying on the roads in different parts of the district were in the process of being removed.He said that steps would be taken to ensure that the uprooted trees or stumps did not pose a danger to motorists or pedestrians.

Meanwhile the continuous overcast conditions and incessant rains have become a source of concern to the authorities in charge of the Government Botanical Garden here. Stating that the planting operations for the Autumn season had been completed, the Manager of the garden N. Mani said that a dry spell would be most welcome since some of the young plants were on the verge of rotting.The weather had also made the task of maintaining the lawns very difficult, he added..