Deputy Chief Minister O. Panneerselvam on Saturday said that Theni district, which was blessed with natural beauty, attracted 35 lakh tourists in 2018.
Inaugurating the two-day Saral Tiruvizha at Suruli waterfalls, he said: “steps are being taken by the district administration and the tourism department to improve tourism in the district and Saral Tiruvizha is one such initiative.”
Major tourist spots in the district such as Kumbakarai, Suruli, Chinna suruli, Meesapulimala, Meghamalai and Kuchanur had been upgraded by the government in terms of infrastructure and accessibility.
Theni was also the gateway between Tamil Nadu and Kerala and, hence, had become popular with tourists from both States. As a bridge of cooperation between the people of the two states, the Tamil Nadu government organised the annual chitra festival at Mangala Devi Kannagi Temple atop the western ghats, the Deputy CM added.
Minister for Forests Dindigul C. Srinivasan said the district had a forest cover of 1090.84 sq km, which was 34% of its total area.
“It was only during the AIADMK regime in 2012, that Theni and Meghamalai forest divisions were introduced for better management of resources and protection of natural wealth,” he said.
Mr. Srinivasan added that the forests of Theni were home to endangered wildlife such as tiger, elephant, leopard, Nilgiri tahr and lion tailed macaque. “These are the reasons for Theni being popular among nature lovers.”
Minister for Tourism Vellamandi N. Natarajan said the State was performing well in tourism sector and inflow of visitors had increased in recent years. “Facilities such as dressing rooms, toilets, lighting and paving were constructed at Suruli falls at a cost of ₹12 lakh and a park was built at a cost of ₹19.50 lakh. So far, a total of ₹2.60 crore has been spent in upgrading various tourist places in Theni district.”
The event was inaugurated in the presence of Theni Collector M. Pallavi Baldev, Theni MP O.P. Raveendranath Kumar, Cumbum MLA S.T.K. Jakkaiyan, Theni SP E. Sai Charan Tejaswi, Theni DFO S. Gautam, Meghamalai DFO Sachin Bhosle, DRO Kandasamy, DRDO project director Thilagavathy and Sub-collectors R. Vaidyanathan and Sneha took part in the event.
