A landslide triggered by heavy rain blocked the Pollachi–Valparai ghat road in Tamil Nadu for nearly 20 hours, stranding tourists and residents and disrupting the movement of essential supplies to the hill town.
Two large boulders rolled onto the road near the third hairpin bend at around 8pm on Tuesday, according to government officials cited by the Times of India. The landslide damaged part of the road, which is the main road link between Pollachi and Valparai. No vehicle was passing when the slope gave way, preventing injuries or a larger accident.
The route was cleared at around 5pm on Wednesday after personnel from the highways department, police and fire and rescue services worked through the night. Initial efforts to remove the boulders with earthmovers were unsuccessful. Officials then used rock drills to break the boulders into smaller pieces before clearing the road.
The closure left tourists travelling from Valparai waiting for hours at the site. A tourist from Hosur told the Times of India that there was no alternative road and that passengers had to wait through the night without food or water. The disruption also affected the movement of supplies, including milk, to the hill town.
The incident occurred as several parts of Tamil Nadu received rain. The western region recorded intermittent showers, although officials reported no other untoward incidents in the area covered by the report. The landslide nevertheless exposed the operational vulnerability of a hill road where a single blockage can interrupt both passenger movement and supply access.
Rain also brought relief to farmers in the Cauvery delta, where Mayiladuthurai received heavy showers and Thanjavur and Tiruvarur recorded moderate rain. Around 10 lakh acres of samba and thaladi paddy are under cultivation across nine central districts. Samba crops, about six weeks old, are in the tillering and stem elongation stages, while the younger thaladi crop is still in the seedling stage.
Agriculture Minister R Vinoth said irrigation channels were being desilted to help drain excess water from fields. The rainfall came as water storage at Mettur remained below its full capacity. As of October 21, the dam’s water level stood at 54 feet against a full reservoir level of 120 feet, with storage at 21 tmcft out of a total capacity of 93.4 tmcft. Inflow was recorded at 4,834 cusecs and outflow at 6,003 cusecs.
Reservoir levels in southern Tamil Nadu also increased. The Vaigai dam rose to 44.88 feet from 43 feet the previous Wednesday, while Mullaperiyar reached 116.90 feet. Papanasam rose to 48 feet from 45.70 feet over the week, and Perunchani reached 44.35 feet from 41.97 feet, according to government data cited in the report.
The India Meteorological Department forecast heavy to very heavy rain in several southern districts on Thursday, including Theni, Dindigul, Virudhunagar, Tenkasi, Sivaganga, Ramanathapuram, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli and Kanyakumari. Authorities were continuing to monitor rainfall, road conditions and reservoir levels as further showers were forecast.
