Eco park to be built across 46-acre reclaimed Ooty Race Course land

COIMBATORE: Agriculture Minister MRK Panneerselvam on Monday announced that an eco-park would be established in the reclaimed Ooty Race Course land.

“Of the totally reclaimed 53 acres, seven acres of marshland will be protected, while the remaining land will be developed into an eco-park. It will be brought to use for the benefit of tourists and the public,” he told the media after inaugurating the John Sullivan Park at Kannerimukku near Kotagiri. He was accompanied by Tourism Minister K Ramachandran and other officials.

The sprawling land reclaimed by the revenue department from the Madras Race Club (MRC) after it failed to pay arrears of Rs 822 crore to government has already been handed over to the horticulture department to establish the eco-park.

Meanwhile, the newly-opened John Sullivan Park has been established in the memory of John Sullivan, who founded the British settlement at Ootacamund in colonial India and introduced horticulture crops in the hill district.

At the park, tourists can explore the rolling tea gardens and deep valleys.

Spread over an area of ten acres, the park has been set up at a cost of Rs 88 lakh under the Special Area Development Programme (SADP).

The park is also home to an array of ornamental and flowering plants, an artificial fountain, and a children’s park with play equipment. Visitors can also buy ornamental plants and saplings with medicinal properties from the park.

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PHOTO: Ministers MRK Panneerselvam and K Ramachandran at the newly-inaugurated John Sullivan Park in the Nilgiris.