Title - Truck falls onto NMR

A banana-laden lorry from Ayyankolli near Gudalur fell into a roadside gorge near Palavasi on the Udhagamandalam — Coonoor road and landed on The Nilgiris Mountain Railway (NMR) track.Driver of the lorry Baby (53) and cleaner Vijayan (45) sustained injuries. Both are undergoing treatment at a private hospital.

The incident was noticed by the railway line gang men who were checking the tracks in the morning. Immediately, the NMR service from Coonoor to Udhagamandalam scheduled for 7.45 a.m. and return trip from Udhagamandalam to Coonoor at 9.15 a.m. were cancelled. The Mettupalayam — Udhagamandalam NMR service was partially cancelled at Coonoor.

Crane was pressed into service to remove the truck and this resulted in affecting the road traffic on the Coonoor — Udhagamandalam section also for nearly two-hours. The truck was finally removed from the track around 1 p.m. Regular NMR service was later resumed.