Ooty: Fissures that appeared in two acres extent in Karkiyoor slopes, including the Karkiyoor road, in Kotagiri taluk near here, and caving in of earth around the cracks have become a cause of concern as the residents in Kotagiri limits wanted a detail study on the geological and micro-seismic activities in the slopes there.
Though the cracks developed in Karkiyoor road last weekend was presumed to be a regular development associated with heavy rains, the fissures developed around two acres of land, including a private tea estate and caving in of the Karkiyoor-Mettikal road at a particular spot and around the road site. This development triggered panic for the residents in the Kotagiri-Karkiyoor slopes as the hills there had not witnessed such deep fissures in recent years.
While the Karkiyoor village limits is thinly populated as only a few tribal hamlets are located in the Karkiyoor slopes, the large scale geological and petrological activities in the area has raised concerned about the stability of the slopes there.
Official sources maintained that accumulation of huge quantity water in the sub-soil surface along the slopes due to heavy downpour in a short period of time would have weakened the texture of soil under the surface that in turn would have halted the percolation resulting in the appearance of cracks and caving in of the soil mass.
However, the residents in Kotagiri-Karkiyoor slopes wanted the district administration to order for a detail study to be conducted by the competent authorities to ascertain the geological stability and micro-seismic activities in the area to take required remedial measures to strengthen the slope stability and road surface and stability.
