Tamil Nadu - Udhagamandalam   

Season in full swing, but with complaints

— Photo: M. Sathyamoorthy

Teeming with tourists: The Government Botanical Garden in Udhagamandalam on Sunday.

Udhagamandalam: The Summer season in this hill station is in full swing and scenic spots like the Government Botanical Garden, the lake and Dodabetta peak are teeming with tourists.

Thanks to the soaring temperatures down in the plains the inflow of visitors particularly since Friday has been high. With pears, plums and peaches flooding the town along with the large number of tourists from various parts of the country it is once again, ‘picnic time’ here.

An additional attraction will be provided to the visitors when the curtain goes up on this year’s racing season on April 14. However, the season has evoked mixed reactions among the people and also tourists here.

Many tourists told The Hindu that traffic management was far from satisfactory. Lamenting that their vehicles were frequently caught in traffic snarls, they said that it upset their sight seeing plans. In the name of parking fees, “we are being fleeced”, they said

A regular visitor regretted that though chaotic conditions on the roads were a common feature of the season, a lasting solution was yet to be found. Local people said that the traffic related problems and haphazard parking subjected them to considerable inconvenience.

A police officer said that shortage of men was a major contributory factor.

While a grievance of hoteliers was that the bulk of the tourists comprised ‘one-day’ or ‘over-night’ visitors from whom the returns business wise was negligible, the tourists said that the growing tendency among a section of the hoteliers to take visitors for a ride would in the long run do considerable harm to the reputation of the holiday destination.

The hoteliers pointed out that while there was a heavy influx of tourists during the weekends, the flow tapered off during the week-days. However, observers attributed the fluctuating fortunes of the hospitality industry to the ‘cut-throat’ competition among the hoteliers themselves.

A complaint shared by a large number of tourists was that they were not able to enjoy a ride on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway on account of the heavy rush. They expressed the hope that arrangements would be made to run special trains between Ooty and Coonoor and Ooty and Mettupalayam.

Though every year season specials are run to cope with the demand, this year an announcement to this effect is yet to be made.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Season in full swing, but with complaints
Action plan to prevent eve-teasing

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu