Ooty: Though the red alert sounded for the Nilgiris for Tuesday by the weathermen triggered a sort of scare among the hill residents as the recent heavy rains and resultant disasters began to flash in their minds, the alarm proved to be futile, as the hills received only scanty rainfall on Tuesday. Yet, the after-effects of the recent heavy rains in the preceding days could be seen in minor landslips and uprooting of trees at few places across the hills here on Tuesday.
The closure of educational institutions, evacuating people in low-lying areas into the nearby flood shelters, posting of the disaster management teams in wanton points across the hills that began from Monday evening made one think that some danger was waiting for the hills. But, fortunately the weather Gods proved the weathermen wrong as only low-intensity occasional rainfall with cloudy sky made up for the weather profile since Monday evening.
While the uprooting of a tree and minor mud-slip at Gandhipuram area near Coonor along Ooty-Coimbatore NH on Monday night paralysed traffic for an hour there, there were reports about minor mud-slips and uprooting of trees in the Coonoor and Kundah taluks.
This apart, heavy mist in the early hours on Tuesday made the driver of a state owned bus to lost the clear view of the road which resulted in the bus slipped off the road near Katteri junction along Ooty-Coimabtore NH and dashed against a slope along. However, all the passengers and bus crew escaped unhurt.
Meanwhile, the highway department has taken up repairing works in the Ooty-Kundah road which witnessed landslips in the recent rains.
