HC raps Nilgiris, Dindigul collectors for false info on tourist traffic in hill stns during Deepavali
A special bench of Justice N Sathish Kumar and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy observed that Ooty and Kodaikanal were affected with the traffic coming to a standstill for several hours, as was widely reported in media, and hence the status report by the district administrations concerned cannot be true.
Madras High Court (File)
CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has expressed dissatisfaction over the reports by the Nilgiris and Dindigul district administrations on the quantum of tourist vehicles allowed to the hill stations during the Deepavali holidays, as they didn’t reflect the ground scenario.
A special bench of Justice N Sathish Kumar and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy observed that Ooty and Kodaikanal were affected with the traffic coming to a standstill for several hours, as was widely reported in media, and hence the status report by the district administrations concerned cannot be true.
The district collectors, in the status report regarding the number of tourist vehicles that entered the hill stations, submitted that only 45 buses and 767 cars were allowed to Ooty while 54 buses and 1,141 cars entered Kodaikanal between October 31 and November 3.
However, the Bench refused to accept the data as it didn’t reflect reality and wondered how the district administrations submit reports with misinformation before the court.
The Nilgiris collector accepted that there is underrepresentation regarding the number of vehicles and defended saying the error could have happened due to staff shortage during festival holidays.
The Bench refused to accept the submission and observed that the misinformation would affect the entire process of fixing carrying capacity, and directed fresh affidavits. “Else, we will take this issue seriously,” it warned. The bench also asked the collectors about the status of the e-pass mandate for tourist vehicles entering the hill stations.
The Nilgiris collector submitted that since it is hard to monitor the vehicles they’ve planned to install number plate detection cameras in all the check posts. The Bench then directed the collector to install automated cameras or boom barriers at all entrances to Ooty to ensure the e-pass mandate.
“The court is not restricting the number of tourist vehicles. But they have to register and get e-passes before entering the hill stations,” it held. The court also directed that the list of licensed lodgings in these hill stations be displayed on the e-pass to weed out unlicensed resorts and operators.