Burliyar landslide kills bus driver; road reopening unconfirmed

Janagaraj, 55, was driving a state bus down from Coonoor toward Coimbatore when rocks, mud and an uprooted tree struck at Burliyar. He was killed. His conductor, Kesavan, was pulled from the damaged vehicle with injuries police described as serious and taken to Mettupalayam Government Hospital. Only the two crew members were aboard when the hillside fell. ^{1 3 17}

Along the same mountain road, hundreds of other travellers were stranded by landslips. Rescue teams brought more than 300 people to safety in Mettupalayam on October 24, including children and teachers from two Kerala schools. That was an evacuation of road users spread along the blocked route—not a rescue of hundreds of passengers from the buried bus. ¹

Getting those people down was the immediate achievement. It did not establish that the road was safe to use again. In the latest verified account, the affected section remained closed until further notice, with no confirmed reopening date. A separate three-day restriction on night traffic was not a promise that the damaged stretch would reopen when those nights were over. ¹

The fatal landslide struck on the night of Friday, October 23, into Saturday, October 24, 2026, near the Coimbatore–Nilgiris district border. The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation bus was descending toward Mettupalayam on the Mettupalayam–Coonoor ghat road, one of the mountain links between the foothills and the Nilgiris. ¹

The exact time remains unsettled. Sheeba, a tourist travelling behind the bus, told The Hindu in its October 24 report that the landslide happened around 11 p.m. on Friday. PTI's October 24 dispatch placed it in the early hours of Saturday. Those accounts fall on opposite sides of midnight; neither the reports' publication times nor their later updates resolve the difference. ^{1 3}

Sheeba described two landslips within about one kilometre and said she was brought down to Mettupalayam around noon on Saturday. Her account gives a sense of the disruption beyond the crushed bus: the way out was itself obstructed. ¹

Burliyar recorded 250 millimetres of rain in the 24 hours ending at 7 a.m. on October 24, according to the Nilgiris district administration's rainfall report cited by The Hindu. The amount was classified as extremely heavy rainfall. Multiple landslips deposited rocks, mud and uprooted trees on the road, and intermittent rain continued to hamper rescuers. ¹

Coimbatore Collector Pavankumar G. Giriyappanavar told The Hindu that rescue operations began around 6 a.m. on Saturday. The affected stretch lay seven to ten kilometres from the foothills, making access difficult, while traffic congestion further slowed the teams. That distance describes the rescuers' approach—not the length of the landslide. ¹

Six Fire and Rescue Services teams from Coimbatore were mobilised alongside the Tamil Nadu Disaster Response Force, the National Disaster Response Force, disaster personnel stationed in Udhagamandalam and ambulance staff. The operation had to reach people along a rain-affected mountain route, not simply clear a single vehicle. ¹

Among those stranded were 241 students and 25 teachers from two Kerala schools visiting Udhagamandalam. Once brought to Mettupalayam, travellers were accommodated in marriage and community halls and a school. Officials provided food, including Saturday breakfast, and medical teams stood by. Shelter and meals were part of the response while onward travel was disrupted. ¹

A second driver also needed treatment. A mini goods carrier fell into a gorge at the landslip site, but its driver, Moushin, 38, climbed out and reached safety. He was admitted to Coonoor Government Hospital—a separate case from Kesavan's admission in Mettupalayam. ¹

Minister V. Sampath Kumar said Kesavan's condition was being monitored. The reporting confirms his rescue and hospital admission, but there is no direct hospital bulletin establishing a diagnosis, prognosis or subsequent change in condition. A later publication of the accident account should not be mistaken for a new medical update. ^{1 8}

There is another unresolved detail: how many passengers had travelled on the bus before it was buried. PTI and DT Next's October 24 accounts described three passengers getting off at Kurumpadi. ETV Bharat's account that day recorded the conductor saying all seven passengers had already been dropped off. Dinakaran and LokVox, also reporting on October 24, described about 50 passengers transferring to another bus after a tyre puncture. ^{2 3 16 15 6}

Those figures cannot responsibly be added together or arranged into successive stages of the journey without evidence. No reliable reconciliation establishes a single earlier passenger total. The much firmer point is occupancy at impact: only Janagaraj and Kesavan were aboard. The uncertainty about an earlier headcount does not turn the hundreds evacuated elsewhere along the road into occupants of this bus. ¹⁷

Sampath Kumar inspected the affected stretch with minister S. Kamali and said alternative transport would be arranged for stranded people. He also said the affected ghat section would remain closed until further notice. That open-ended closure is distinct from the broader night-time restrictions described in the district's October 24 advisory. ¹

The advisory suspended vehicle movement, including public transport, on the ghat roads from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. for the next three days, exempting essential and emergency vehicles. It advised the public and tourists to avoid the Mettupalayam–Udhagamandalam mountain approaches via both Coonoor and Kotagiri. It did not establish that the damaged section was open during daylight, and no verified reopening order establishes when its closure ended. ¹

The district warned of further landslips, falling trees, rockfalls and sudden flooding. It urged people to avoid unnecessary tourist visits, follow district and meteorological warnings, and stay away from flooded roads, overflowing streams, low-lying areas, electric poles and wires during rainfall. ¹

For travellers, the distinction is practical: a timed night restriction and an indefinite closure answer different questions. Neither the evacuation's completion nor the passing of three nights is evidence that the buried-bus stretch is fit to reopen. That still requires a confirmed road-status update.