Coonoor Ghat

Coonoor Ghat

Subject – Environment

Context – Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) General Bipin Rawat, his wife MadhulikaRawat, an Army Brigadier, and 10 others were killed when an Indian Air Force helicopter carrying them crashed into a heavily wooded area of the Coonoor ghat in the Nilgiris in western Tamil Nadu

Concept –

• This is also known as the Kallar Ghat, as it follows the valley of the Kallar and Coonoor rivers.
• It is by far the most traveled of all the Ghat Roads as it is the main access from the home state of Tamil Nadu.
• It has 14 numbered Hairpin bends and was recently (c.2003) taken over to be owned and maintained by the National Highways Authority of India and is now part of National Highway 181.
• The ghat rises steeply from Mettupalayam. The Coonoor river flows through a deep gorge with sheer cliff faces on both sides.