Rains in the Nilgiris impact tourist flow to the hills

Heavy rains in Nilgiris cause traffic snarls, lower tourist footfall; administration clears drains, rescues stranded tourists.

Heavy rains in the Nilgiris over the weekend, extending into Tuesday, May 21, 2024 led to traffic snarls and lower tourist footfall across the district.

The Nilgiris district administration, in preparation for an expected spell of heavy rain, had directed local municipalities to ensure that storm water drains, especially those in areas that were prone to flooding, had been cleared of debris, resulting in almost no reports of inundation in low-lying areas of Udhagamandalam town.

However, water inundation surrounding the Ooty Lake and railway station led to a vehicle becoming stuck underneath the railway bridge along the route from the railway station to the Ooty lake on Monday. According to fire and rescue service personnel, a car being driven by tourists from Karnataka was on its way to the Boat House when they became stranded along the route and had to be rescued by fire service personnel.

After the occupants of the car were safely extricated, the car was also cleared and traffic flow along the route resumed shortly afterwards.

An average of 17.23 millimeters of rain was recorded across the Nilgiris from Saturday onwards, officials confirmed. Udhagamandalam Municipality officials, who had been grappling with issues surrounding water scarcity within municipality limits, stated that the rains will provide a bit of respite as sources providing drinking water to Udhagamandalam town would have replenished slightly over the last few days.

Due to the Nilgiris district administration cautioning tourists from travelling to The Nilgiris due to an “orange alert” that had been issued by the Indian Meteorological Department, combined with an advisory to locals to also stay indoors unless travel was absolutely necessary, footfall to the tourist spots of the Government Botanical Garden and Rose Garden was lower than expected, horticulture department officials stated.