Officials said the identified boulder in the hills is located just above a residential area in the foothills. | Photo credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
The State Roads and Highways Department has started demolition of a huge boulder weighing around 15 tonnes in Arunachala Hills near Arunachaleswarar Temple in Tiruvannamalai town to avoid any inconvenience during monsoon.
State Highways officials, who are carrying out the work in coordination with the Tiruvannamalai Corporation, said the identified boulder in the hills is located just above the residential area at the foot of the hills.
A densely populated area is VOC Nagar which comes under ward 5 of the corporation. “Demolition of boulders in the hills will be done using scientific methods. Once the huge stone is cracked, it will be broken into small pieces to remove it from the hills. The entire work will be completed in a week,” S. Anbarasu, Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE), State Highways, told The Hindu.
The demolition work will come after Collector K. Tharpagaraj inspected the foothills to assess the condition of the rocky terrain. He directed the civic officials to take precautionary measures to prevent landslides in the hills. In December 2024, seven people died in the hills after Cyclone Fengal triggered a landslide.
Highway officials said a huge boulder weighing around 40 tonnes was removed from the spot where lives were lost after the landslide incident. Subsequently, breast walls were built at selected places in the hills where the terrain has loose soil. These walls have several openings that allow excess rainwater from the hills to drain into nearby lakes.
With the temple town witnessing incessant rains, officials from the highway have started demolishing the identified boulder. “Residents in the foothills should be provided with alternative accommodation to sustain their livelihood. Despite the landslide, residents are still staying in dilapidated houses at the foothills,” resident V. Ramesh said.
Forest officials said that Arunachala Hills comes under the Adi Annamalai Reserve Forest with more than 900 hectares, spread over a radius of nine kilometers. The hill is located at a height of 2,668 feet above sea level where a fire is lit on top of the hill as part of the Maha Deepam festival every year. The lands around the foothills up to a distance of 6 km belong to the tax department, the rest in the hills are forests.
Published – 26 Oct 2025 22:29 IST
