With the people of The Nilgiris having exercised their franchise to elect a person to represent them in the 16th Lok Sabha and the process of counting their votes still three weeks away, the focus has shifted back to the annual summer tourist season which is in progress here.
The inflow of tourists particularly during the weekends, which has been good ever since the curtain went up on this year’s season about a month ago, has gone up.
Popular tourist spots are teeming with tourists. The inflow is expected to steadily increase over the next few weeks, the main reason being the soaring temperatures down in the plains.
With prolonged dry weather and ‘abuse’ by lakhs of tourists having made the main lawn of the Government Botanical Garden here present an unhealthy look, the authorities in-charge of the tourist attraction have cordoned it off.
Official sources told The Hindu on Friday that since the annual flower show was just a month away measures to enhance the beauty of the lawn had been stepped up.
Stating that the lawn would remain cordoned off till the end of the month, the sources added that it would be thrown open on May 1 as the hill station would normally be flooded with tourists on that day.
It would again be made out of bounds for about two weeks to facilitate its recovery. Since the flowers had started blooming and the garden was crowded, recruitment of temporary hands had commenced. Pointing out that about a dozen boys had already joined, the sources said that they were students waiting for their Class X or Plus-Two board examination results.
Totally, about 50 boys would be provided with summer jobs.
