Boulders, uprooted trees disrupt traffic on national highway 67

UDHAGAMANDALAM: Traffic was disrupted for at least three hours on Wednesday between Coonoor and Mettupalayam on the national highway 67 as boulders rolled down across the road after heavy rain on Tuesday. Also, trees on the side of the highways near Burliar were uprooted.
Coonoor received 46mm of rainfall in 24 hours ending at 8am on Wednesday. While Kotagiri received 40mm, Ooty registered 34.6mm and Burliar received 30mm of rainfall respectively.
Due to the downpour in Coonoor, the ghat sections on the NH between Coonoor and Mettupalayam was damp, thus giving way for boulders to slip down.At around 7.30am, at least two boulders were reported to have rolled down across the road near the 13th hairpin bend on the ghat road. A few trees were also found to be uprooted and had fell on the road.
With traffic on NH-67 disrupted, staff from revenue, police, highways, forest and fire-service departments were pressed into service. An earthmover was called to service to remove the boulder and uprooted trees were cut using electric cutters and cleared. At around 12.30pm, traffic on the road was back to normal.
Geetha Priya, revenue divisional officer, Coonoor told TOI, "At least 25 persons from various departments were involved to clear off the boulders and the trees from the road near 13th bend,"