Yercaud summer festival comes to a close

A dog jumps through a ring of fire on Sunday at the summer festival at Yercaud in Salem on Sunday. Photo: E. Lakshmi Narayanan

Over 1.5 lakh people visited Yercaud on Sunday, the final day of the three-day summer festival.

The panoramic view of low flying clouds and cool climate invited tourists from nearby districts to the festival. They enthusiastically participated in various competitions including rangoli, cricket and dog shows and won prizes.

Potable water

However tourists complained of non-availability of protected drinking water as they were forced to depend on shops who fleeced them. “Quality food could have been served by the district administration,” said a tourist from the city. Sanitation facilities were also very poor, he added.

In spite of effective traffic management in place and posting of police personnel in all spots, traffic congestion for over hours disappointed tourists.

Officials said that over 60,000 vehicles, including 40,000 two-wheelers thronged the hill station leaving little space for parking. Though the Ghat Road section from the city was allowed only for one-way traffic, delay in collection of toll fare led to vehicles queuing up for over a km. But tourists expressed happy over the presence of transport employees in hairpin bends who gave direction for vehicles.

District collector K. Maharabushanam along with senior police officials camped in the hill station for the last three days and ensured that no untoward incident took place during the festival.