Tourists complain of high entry fee at Coonoor Sims Park

COIMBATORE: Tourists visiting the Sims Park in Coonoor were forced to shell out more as entry fee on Tuesday.

Despite the 64th annual fruit show ending on Sunday, the Department of Horticulture continues to collect the hiked charges.

For the three-day show organised as part of the summer festival, the entry charge was increased from Rs 30 to Rs 50 for children and Rs 40 to Rs 100 for adults.

It was then a visual treat for tourists as the show had a range of delightful exhibits like ‘King Kong’ made of grapes, cartoon characters, and many others displayed by horticulture teams from various districts across the state.

As two days have passed, the fruits used in exhibits have started to rot and the structures were being dismantled by staff. Despite the park returning to its usual way of resemblance, the collection of hiked entry fees is burning a hole in the pocket of tourists.

“As we came all the way to Coonoor from Namakkal on a family trip, we didn’t want to miss the splendid beauty of the park just because of the high entry fee. Yet, it’s too high, which we found it difficult to pay,” said R Murthy, who came with his family of five persons including two children.

When queried, an official of the horticulture department said that they were awaiting a communication from senior authorities to reduce the entry charge. “It will be reduced soon,” the official said.