Heavy rains cause disappointment for Ooty tourists

COIMBATORE: Tourists who thronged Ooty for the annual flower show were disappointed due to heavy rains on Tuesday.

The sunshine till afternoon gave way for cloudy skies and soon rains began to pour out. There were intermittent and moderate to heavy rains forcing the tourists to find shelter in crowded locales.

Water began to stagnate in low lying areas and on arterial junctions like Charring Cross, Commercial Road and Good Shed Road. With rains continuing to lash, the tourist crowd began to trickle on the last day of the 125th annual flower show at Government Botanical Garden (GBG). The tourists claimed that they stayed indoors due to the rain.

Rains also played havoc with the plans of tourists over the last two days. For the visitors to GBG, a massive sized peacock made of over 80, 000 carnations to a height of 48 feet and 40 feet in breadth turned out to be a visual treat. A

lso, some of the endangered wild animals and marine species like leopard, dolphin, panda, bear, rhinoceros and sea cow (kadal pasu) turned out to be major attractions.