Tamil Nadu - Udhagamandalam   

Tourists throng Udhagamandalam to celebrate New Year

D. Radhakrishnan

Many hotels report high occupancy rate; celebrations pass off peacefully

USHERING IN 2007: Badagas from Adhigaratty village dancing at the Government Botanical Garden in Udhagamandalam on Monday. — Photo: D. Radhakrishnan

Udhagamandalam: A sharp increase in the number of tourists marked the New Year celebrations in this vacation destination.

The severe frost and consequent biting chillness, the appalling condition of roads and inadequate civic amenities notwithstanding thousands of tourists from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka and some parts of the North poured into Udhagamandalam to bid adieu to 2006 and welcome 2007.

Foreigners

There was also a sprinkling of foreigners. Many of the hotels reported high occupancy.

With the flow of tourists steadily increasing from the Christmas weekend, popular spots such as the Government Botanical Garden, the Ooty Lake and Dodabetta Peak were teeming with visitors from December 30.

In view of the presence of a large number of tourists and anticipated revelry, the Superintendent of Police, the Nilgiris, Vidya D. Kulkarni, had put in place an elaborate plan of action to check unpleasant developments and keep at bay criminal elements.

Lively

With some of the hotels having organised New Year eve get-togethers, the town was lively till late at night. Special midnight services were organised in some of the churches.

Many of the tourists enjoyed the bonfires lit at street corners by autorickshaw and taxi drivers.

The Additional Superintendent of Police, S. Munusu, told The Hindu on Monday that the celebrations passed off peacefully.

The visitors making a beeline to the railway station here and at Coonoor reflected the growing popularity of the Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR).

Along with the tourists a number of residents of Udhagamandalam and surroundings celebrated New Year at the Botanical Garden.

An impromptu dance performed by some Badagas of Adhigaratty village pepped up the proceedings at the garden.

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