Mysuru: A portion of Chamundi Hill collapsed today morning due to incessant and intermittent rains. The portion of the road caved in near the Nandi Statue and was first noticed by a group of vendors who sell flowers, fruits and other items atop the Hill and Nandi Statue.  

Speaking to Star of Mysore, a vendor said that the incident occurred at around 7.30 am. The retaining wall near the boundary also collapsed. 

Fortunately, no vehicle was passing on the stretch when the land caved in. Subramani, who sells his wares near the Nandi Statue said that they had heard a loud “thud” sound in the morning but thought that it could be any other sound. “Only later we discovered that the land had caved in due to rain and loose soil. We brought the Police barricades from the Nandi Statue and set up here so that vehicles are forewarned,” he said. 

After the vendors put up two barricades some miscreants had pushed one of the barricades into the collapsed portion. 

Till afternoon, no authority was present at the spot to take stock of the situation. “We could neither inform the jurisdictional Police nor the District Authorities as there was no mobile networks. The administration must immediately take measures to restore the collapsed land as thousands of vehicles ply on the road every other day and the traffic will increase for Deepavali,” he added. 

The vendors are worried that due to the collapse of the road, people may not come to the Hill or the footfall might dwindle. “Our lives depend on the items we sell near the Nandi Statue and up the Hill. If there are no people, there is no food for us. I request the authorities to immediately restore the stretch and also take steps to prevent such occurrences,” Subramanya added. 

People in the know of things said that the District administration must summon Geologists and send the soil samples for testing. “Future occurrences can be prevented if precautionary measures are taken right now,” a resident said. 

(Text and Photos by M.N. Lakshminarayana Yadav)