Chennai, Nov 19 (IANS) The Madras High Court Thursday asked the Tamil Nadu government to take action against officials in Nilgiri district who failed to stop the illegal stone quarries in the region, resulting in landslides during the recent rains that killed about 45 people.

The court's order came on a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by E. Rajendran.

Appearing for the state, Advocate General P.S.Raman told the court that a monitoring committee headed by Nilgiri district collector has been set up to take action against illegal quarries.

The northeast monsoon rains over Tamil Nadu affected the Nilgiri district in a major way, claiming about 45 lives, injuring many others and damaging thousands of homes.

According to Communications Minister A. Raja, who supervised the relief measures, the estimated damage was around Rs.300 crore.