Indian Railways on Saturday suspended train services on Ooty's Nilgiri Mountain Rail Route as rocks slid onto its track in Mettupalayam. The incident happened near the Kallar station of the service. Authorities said that the service would resume after clearing the debris from the track. Nilgiris collector had earlier requested tourists to defer their trips to the hill station till May 20, as it is experiencing heavy rains and flash floods. 
A few days ago, the Nilgiris district administration said the India Meteorological Department has issued an 'orange alert' forecast, which means very heavy rain of 6 cm-20 cm is expected on May 18, 19, and 20.  Nearly 3,500 disaster response personnel and required equipment including earthmovers are on standby in the region. About 450 temporary shelters have also been kept ready and people have also been asked to stay indoors.  

Accident in Courtallam
The rain that battered Tenkasi caused the waterfalls at Old Courtallam to swell suddenly, due to which a 17-year-old boy who was bathing under the falls was washed away by the flash floods. The boy was there with his relatives. His body was later recovered by the police and forest officials after a thorough search.  Meanwhile, the Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Chennai, has warned of enhanced rainfall activity over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal in the upcoming days. 

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Light to moderate rainfall at many places with isolated heavy to very heavy rain, thunderstorms and lightning with strong winds, with speed reaching 30-40 kmph was likely over Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal during the next five days till May 21, under the influence of upper air cyclonic circulations over the region, it said. Heavy to very heavy rain is likely to occur at isolated places over Theni, Dindigul, Tenkasi, Kanyakumari, Tirunelveli, Pudukottai and Ramanathapuram districts.  Heavy rain is likely to occur in several other districts including Nilgiris, Coimbatore, Erode, Salem, Dharmapuri, Krishnagiri, Tirupattur, Madurai, Sivaganga, Virudhunagar, and Thoothukudi.  
(With PTI inputs)

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