Tamil Nadu - Udhagamandalam   

Heavy rain causes hardship to tourists, residents

Photo: D. Radhakrishnan

Needs immediate attention: A badly-damaged stretch of the Ooty-Coonoor national highway. —

Udhagamandalam: After a short respite, overcast conditions and torrential rains accompanied by thunder have once again become the order of the day in many parts of the Nilgiris district. Consequently, various sections of the society have been subjected to a great deal of inconvenience.

With the rains flooding low-lying areas, the worst affected was the busy Coonoor Road, the main approach to the hill station.

The stretch of the road leading from Charing Cross to Thalaiattumund, which was already in an appalling condition has been made worse by the rains. Since an opportunity provided by a brief dry spell had not been utilised by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to fill up the huge potholes, despite several representations and many assurances, some parts of the stretch have become almost unmotorable. Breakdowns and heated exchanges between motorists have become common.

Since footpaths have either been encroached on or were in a state of neglect, pedestrians, including women and children, are forced to walk through a mixture of storm water and sewage. They have also been exposed to the risk of being hit by vehicles.

Speaking to The Hindu, some of the residents lamented that though the problem was a long-standing one, nothing tangible had been done till now to set matters right. A major contributory factor in the area getting frequently flooded was the covering of the storm water drains at many places by people running commercial establishments on the road. An in-depth study of the problem was yet to be made, though the residents and tourists have been affected by it for several years.

Meanwhile though the inflow of tourists has been good for the past few days, their sight-seeing plans have been thrown out of gear by the inclement weather. Farmers said that though the rains were welcome, if it becomes incessant standing crops would be affected.

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