Traffic snarls irk flower show visitors near Ooty

OOTY: Lack of sufficient staffers to man the toll collection point at Burliar in Nilgiris-Coimbatore border added to traffic snarl in the busy flower show weekend in the hills that irked both local travelers and the tourists as well.

May be it is the lack of proper planning on the part of officialdom here to handle the huge increase in the volume of traffic on the busy Ooty-Coimbatore NH, which would generally go up during the flower show weekend in Ooty.  Though a green-tax is collected at Burliar, the entry point to Nilgiris from Coimbatore side, for the outstation vehicles, all these days only limited staff could manage the toll collection.

However, the inability by the concerned officials to properly make arrangement for toll collection to handle the huge increase, especially, the tourist vehicles, proved to be distressful experience for the tourists.  

That resulted in traffic snarls on this road as all the ascending vehicles were made to stand for minutes together to pay the tax.

Stating that this is agonizing experience both for the tourists, as well as the locals, Mr. Rajeshkumar James, secretary of the Citizens’ Forum of Coonoor said that since the tourists flow to the hills is expected to be high till the second week of June, the district administration should focus on this issue to find a solution by appointing at least part-time staffers at the toll collection point to clear the traffic congestion.