The Nilgiris receives heavy rain; mountain train services affected

Udhagamandalam: After a long dry spell, ‘welcome showers’ drenched the Nilgiri Hills starting Tuesday evening, bringing cheers to all people, including farmers and tourists. The showers that settled down the dust in the hill towns like Ooty, Coonoor and Kotagiri continued on Wednesday morning.

While Kundha received the highest rainfall of 58 mm in the 24 hours ending at 8 am on Wednesday, Coonoor registered 55 mm of rain. Kotagiri and Burliar recorded 45 mm and 43 mm of rainfall respectively. Ooty registered 32 mm and Yedapalli recorded 49 mm of rainfall. Ketti received 48 mm. However, it did not rain in Gudalur and Pandalur taluks.

Rain brought down the temperature in Ooty. “The days have been very warm in the past few months. At least, the shower cooled down the temperature”, said a resident.

Most of the underground drainage (UGD) manholes are found overflown in Ooty town owing to the heavy showers. People found it difficult to walk on the roads as drainage water was running on the roads, posing health hazards. “The Ooty municipality should check the UGD pipes and replace them with broader ones to avoid such menace,” said a resident.

The services of the mountain train between Mettupalayam and Ooty were cancelled on Wednesday as a huge rock fell on track during heavy rain. However, train services between Coonoor and Ooty were operated. Railway personnel were engaged in restoration work. Efforts were being made to clear the track and restore traffic, said a press release from the Salem division of Southern Railway.

The showers were beneficial both to farming land and tea gardens, according to horticulture officials. It seemed to be summer rain. In that case, a few more spells of rain may be expected in the coming weeks. Also, rain is favouring hundreds of flower plants in the Government Botanical Garden and the Government Rose Garden in Ooty for a good bloom.

“Most of the agricultural fields are not cultivated because we were waiting for a good shower”, said L Mathan, farmer. He added, “And rain is a booster for the standing crops like carrot and cabbage.”

“Rain would control the forest fires. And it is very useful to wild animals in the forest area”, said a forest official.