No respite from rain in Nilgiris

Udhagamandalam: The Nilgiris continued to experience more rainfall as the average rainfall recorded in the district on Friday stood at 131.7mm against 111.1mm on Thursday. However, the strong flow of wind subsided as the residents heaved a sigh of relief.
While Gudalur recorded 349mm of rainfall, Devala recorded 360mm. On Thursday, Gulaur and Devala recorded 335mm and 220mm of rainfall respectively.
Upper Gudalur and Pandalur registered 330mm and 247mm on Friday against 305mm and 181mm the previous day respectively. Emerald recorded 192mm of rainfall while Ooty and Coonoor registered 56mm and 20mm respectively.
While 125 people are housed in temporary relief camps in Ooty taluk, 457 people are housed in Kundha taluk accounts for five camps with 457 people. The affected people were from Inbasagar Nagar, Vinobhaji Nagar, Periyar Nagar, Nehru Nagar and Anna Nagar, among other colonies.
Twenty-six huts were damaged in Kundha taluk, besides few more trees were uprooted, according to revenue divisional officer, Ooty, D Suresh.
According to the district administration, relief work in affected areas is underway by SDRF, NDRF, Fire and Rescue Services and TNEB.
After 48 hours, power was restored partially in Ooty. Places such as Missionary Hill, Havelock Road, Nondimedu and Doddabetta areas have been experiencing power cut for the third day.
According to TNEB officials, four teams comprising 40 people from the neighbouring district Coimbatore have been pressed into work to restore power. Over 100 electric poles were reportedly damaged owing to the gusty wind and treefall in the past three days.
At Puliamparai and Padanthurai in Gudalur taluk, crop damage was reported owing to the heavy rains. “About 10.2 hectares of banana field and 1 hectare of chowchow field were damaged completely due to heavy rain,” said Shiva Subramaniam Samraj, joint director of horticulture. He said, “Around 20 hectares of fields with different standing crops are flooded. However, water would drain in another day. There would not be much damage.”
At least 11 houses in Pakkana tribal hamlet in Pandalur taluk were flooded. The residents of the hamlet were shifted to nearby relief camp, according to officials.
Meantime, minister for municipal administration, rural development, S P Velumani and minister for animal husbandry, Udumalai Radhakrishnan inspected the rain affected areas in Gudalur taluk and Ooty town.