State Tourism Minister K. Ramachandran inspected the Ooty Lake and Boat House on Sunday to assess the progress of works, including the adventure sports facilities.
Mr. Ramachandran told press persons that Tamil Nadu witnessed the highest number of tourist visitors in the country. Facilities were being readied at the Ooty Lake and Boat House at a cost of ₹5 crore. These included a zip line, canopy tour, zip cycle, giant swing, roller coaster zip line, bunjee jumping, a rocket ejector as well as a 450-meter suspension bridge.
The Minister also said that between 2021 and 2022, total of 12 lakh tourists visited the Nilgiris, while since the start of 2022, till the end of March 2023, 22 lakh visitors had come to the district as tourists.
The Minister inspected the facilities around the Boat House and said any impediments to tourist movement to the lake would be rectified. He instructed officials to remove any encroachments and to ensure that the toilets were cleaned and maintained.
He also inspected the construction of a retaining wall around the Ooty Lake. Mr. Ramachandran said Tamil Nadu lacked any special infrastructure for adventure sports and that adventure sports parks like the one in the Ooty Lake and Boat House would boost tourism in the State. The Minister said Tamil Nadu already attracted a very high number of tourists, and that the new infrastructure would be beneficial to both the State and local economy.
Officials from the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation and the Tourism Department were present during the inspection.
