Following the death of a 66-year-old man in a gaur attack in the Kundah Forest Range on Sunday, the forest department has initiated measures to ensure the safety of of tourists visiting the Nilgiris during the summer festival.
District Forest Officer, the Nilgiris, K. Rajkumar, said that in order to prevent tourists from straying too close to the grazing animals, additional forest watchers will patrol all major tourist spots bordering forest areas in the Nilgiris along with the Rapid Response
Team during the festival.
“We have identified locations where there is a sizable movement of gaur, in the towns of Coonoor, Udhagamandalam and Kotagiri, and will post forest watchers in these locations to constantly monitor the movement of the animals,” Mr. Rajkumar said.
Officials also said that people will be prevented from going to popular tourist locations such as Government Botanical Garden, Doddabetta, Rose Garden and Sims Park early in the morning or in the evening, when the movement of the animals will increase.
Apart from ensuring the safety of the tourists visiting the festival, the Nilgiris District police officials said that there has not been a major instance of theft or robbery committed on tourists.
The Ooty Town DSP, S. Thirumeni, said that a total of 30,000 people visited the Government Botanical Garden (GBG) alone this Sunday and said that they expect a similar number of visitors to the garden on any specific day between May 18 and 22, when the Flower Show will be held. “So far, our measures to prevent traffic snarls and ensure movement of vehicles seems to be working. But the litmus test will be next weekend,” said Mr. Thirumeni.
On Monday, C. Sylendra Babu, ADGP, Railway Police, Tamil Nadu, visited the Coonoor Railway Station and inspected the police outpost there. Speaking to reporters, Mr. Babu said that efforts were being undertaken to install CCTV cameras in all railway stations and that people can now register a complaint with the railway police at any station in Tamil Nadu, even if the offense or crime happened outside the state, or in a different location.
Mr. Babu also announced the formation of a volunteer group of youngsters, who will assist tourists during the summer festival season with information and instructions.
