Slow, Steady Progress to Set Right Landslide-Hit NH in Nilgiris

The closure of the Ooty-Coimbatore NH, which runs via Coonoor-Burliar-Mettupalayam, crippled tourist inflow into the hills as this major road used to handle a good volume of traffic throughout the year.

While experts on NH from Uttarakhand and other hilly parts in the north have inspected the damaged parts and the stability of the slopes near Burliar check-post already, work is underway to clear the rubble and heavy soil mass and boulders brought down when the landslide occurred on October 24 night.

Though the foresters from Mettupalayam raised objections to remove the hanging boulders in the wooded zone along this NH in Burliar, after Deccan Chronicle published reports on this and pointed out the hill residents seeking the Chief Minister’s intervention in the matter, the issue was solved that led to the NH wing removing the dangerous boulders along the roadside.

NH sources said that work is now underway to remove the unstable/crumbly/brittle soil along the slopes to pave the way for arrangements to strengthen the slopes on the sides and take necessary steps to strengthen the road along the valley on the other side, which requires meticulous planning, more labour and strenuous work to ensure that road texture will not be affected due to the vibrations caused by the movement of vehicles on the road.

Apart from this, a tender will be floated in the months to come for carrying out permanent restoration with additional strengthening measures and mechanisms, NH sources added.

The Ooty-Coimbatore NH was closed for nearly two months during the 1993 landslides, for a month during the 2002 and 2006 landslides and for nearly 45 days during the 2009 landslides.

On all those occasions, the Ooty-Kotagiri-Coimbatore state highway road served as an alternative road, as it does now, to connect the hills with Coimbatore.