Nilgiris roads choke with traffic due to tourist inflow

Traffic was affected along Ooty - Gudalur Road outside Ooty town on Sunday. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

UDHAGAMANDALAM As tourist inflow into the Nilgiris picked up for the extended weekend due to Christmas holiday on Dec. 25, the roads of Udhagamandalam and Coonoor towns choked with tourist traffic.

One resident from Udhagamandalam, visiting from Mysuru in Karnataka, said the Theppakadu to Udhagamandalam Road, through Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, witnessed long lines of tourist traffic on Dec. 22 evening. “What would usually take us 90 minutes to traverse, ended up taking almost double that time, as we had to navigate crowds of tourist buses and cars all making their way up the hill,” said the resident, R. Smitha.

On Dec. 24, Udhagamandalam town witnessed heavy traffic, especially along the Ettines Road, due to tourists making their way to the Government Rose Garden, apart from the Garden Road, the Ooty Bus Stand and along the Ooty to Gudalur Road.

The Nilgiris district police personnel were deployed in large numbers and tried their best to handle the large crowds of tourists. P. Sundaravadivel, Nilgiris District Superintendent of Police, told The Hindu that an additional strength of around 200 police personnel have been deployed in Udhagamandalam and Coonoor towns to handle the crowds.

He said that apart from ensuring traffic flow, with plans formulated for dealing with vehicular traffic during the peak tourist season being in place, the police were also clamping down on drunken and reckless driving to prevent accidents.