With tourist inflow rising, traffic problems also go up in hill town

Ooty: While the volume of traffic to the hills increases manifold during the summer months of April and May due to huge tourist influx, managing traffic in narrow roads in the hills is a challenging task for the cops.

The problem associated with the increased volume of traffic is that of finding parking lots in this hill town.

Though the cops identified certain places such as the Gandhi Maidan, Aavin complex and NCMS ground for parking of vehicles in the summer here in Ooty town limits, now the district administration has set its eye on the piece of land at the eastern corner on the sprawling race course premises here to convert that place into a parking lot as that land is being used to erect temporary stables for the horses in summer.

J. Innocent Divya, Collector of Nilgiris, told Deccan Chronicle that the district administration has decided use the land inside the race course at its eastern corner near the ATC bus stop for vehicle parking.

“The race course land in Ooty is a revenue land that has been leased to Madras Race Club, long ago. I have written to the Revenue Secretary at Chennai to make arrangements to create a parking space at the piece of land in the race course near the ATC bus stop junction. We have to wait till the government decides on it” she said.