Ooty: After becoming Chief Minister in 1969, M. Karunanidhi envisaged a long- term plan to manage the water needs of Ooty town and the nearby army centre at Wellington as he took the first initiative to draw water from Parson’s Valley reservoir, around 23-km off this hill town. The initial phase benefitted some parts of the Ooty town from this scheme which was later extended to the army centre.
While the ‘Tamil Nadu Tea Plantation Corporation (TANTEA)’ took roots in 1968, after Mr. Karunanidhi became the Chief Minister, it saw large scale expansion in Nilgiris, to rehabilitate the Sri Lankan repatriates. Over the decades, it has grown to become one of the largest manufacturers of black tea in the country.
Between 1969 and 1975 he visited Nilgiris quite a few times and participated in various functions and the regional conference of DMK was held in this hill town. While Kalaignar laid the foundation for the Young Badagas’ Association building here in Ooty town, he was instrumental in establishing Anna Stadium, an indoor sports venue here, Boys’ hostel at Goodshed road for Dalits, Coop Super market at Commercial road and setting up of the Central bus stand to facilitate operation of long-distance buses from Ooty.
During 2006-11, he was instrumental in initiating the water supply scheme from Pykara reservoir to benefit 18 villages around Kodanad belt and took the initiative for the third water supply scheme from Parson’s Valley for Ooty.
While the Gudalur-Ooty-Coimbatore road was in neglected state after being given the NH status in 2004, it was Mr.Karunanidhi, who took deep interest in improving this NH after coming to power in 2006.
Also, during his1996-2001 tenure, he took steps to erect iron railings around hair-pin bends and on edges of the roads along the slopes in Nilgiris which is now a standard road safety feature. Again during that tenure, he launched a scheme to remove the water hyacinth weeds in a scientific way which was posing threat to the famed Ooty lake.
