Families evacuated from mudslide prone area in Valparai; TNDRF team ready for swift response  

District administration in Valparai prepares for quick disaster response with evacuation plans and TNDRF team on standby.

In view of the mudslide that claimed the lives of two persons near Valparai on Tuesday and instances of landslides in the plateau in the past, the district administration has made arrangements for quick disaster response at the hill station in the event of any natural calamity.

Revenue Department officials said that a few families from Idathukarai near Sholayar reservoir were evacuated from their houses and were sheltered in a temporary relief centre at Valparai after a mudslide claimed the lives of A. Rajeswari alias Muthammal, 57, and her granddaughter S. Dhanapriya, 15, in the early hours of Tuesday.

Officials said that special focus for the preparedness was given to the Valparai plateau considering the hilly terrain and the high amount of rainfall it receives.

Cinchona and Chinnakallar in the plateau received heavy rainfall, 73 and 75 mm each, in the 24 hours that ended at 8.30 a.m. on Wednesday, which were the highest in Coimbatore district.

The district disaster management plan has also mapped some of the places in the Valparai plateau as prone to flooding and mudslide. A landslide occurred in the Kadar tribal settlement at Kallar in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve, around 25 km from Valparai, in August 2019, following which 23 families were shifted to tea estate quarters at Thaimudi.

The police said that 30 members of the Tamil Nadu Disaster Response Force (TNDRF) team were camping at Valparai from Wednesday. The TNDRF team is equipped with power tools, cutting machines, generators, lifebuoys, ropes and other safety gears. A senior police officer said that the team will respond swiftly if any rain-related calamities occur in the hill station.

District Fire Officer P. Pulukandi said that all the fire stations in the district are prepared to deal with emergency situations. Tools to cut and remove trees and other equipment for rescue missions are kept ready in all the stations, he said.