With peak season in full swing, there's total chaos on the roads in Ooty town. Poor traffic management and inadequate police personnel have choked several junctions and busy areas in the town. Lack of adequate parking facilities has also contributed to the woes of tourists.
At least, 6,000 to 7,000 vehicles hit the hill town daily. Ooty town, with a radius of around 3 km, has only two main roads, Commercial Road and Etienne's Road.
"Of course, we need a huge parking lot in Ooty, considering the number of vehicles driving into town during peak season. We also need footpaths," said Geetha Srinivasan, president, INTACH-Nilgiris chapter.
If one area could be identified in town for parking, the chaos could be avoided during peak season. Given the hilly terrain, Ooty is short on free spaces. The hilly terrain does not facilitate easy approach roads. Many of the sub-roads leading to residential areas are narrow. During tourist season, traffic becomes congested and the whole town is flooded with vehicles.
D Rajagopal, a resident of Ooty said, "Heavy vehicles, including trucks and mini vans are parked everywhere in the town, even in no parking areas, causing inconvenience to both commuters and pedestrians. The municipality should enforce 'paid parking system' in certain areas on hourly basis so as to get rid of the erratic parking on main roads".
As the summer season in Ooty attracts several tourists from across the country, locals fret over the district administration's failure to streamline traffic.
A Manikandan, Ooty town DSP told TOI, "Many roads have been earmarked as one-way just to ease traffic". In the past, the district administration had identified several places for parking lots, but nothing has materialized.
At least, 6,000 to 7,000 vehicles hit the hill town daily. Ooty town, with a radius of around 3 km, has only two main roads, Commercial Road and Etienne's Road.
"Of course, we need a huge parking lot in Ooty, considering the number of vehicles driving into town during peak season. We also need footpaths," said Geetha Srinivasan, president, INTACH-Nilgiris chapter.
If one area could be identified in town for parking, the chaos could be avoided during peak season. Given the hilly terrain, Ooty is short on free spaces. The hilly terrain does not facilitate easy approach roads. Many of the sub-roads leading to residential areas are narrow. During tourist season, traffic becomes congested and the whole town is flooded with vehicles.
D Rajagopal, a resident of Ooty said, "Heavy vehicles, including trucks and mini vans are parked everywhere in the town, even in no parking areas, causing inconvenience to both commuters and pedestrians. The municipality should enforce 'paid parking system' in certain areas on hourly basis so as to get rid of the erratic parking on main roads".
As the summer season in Ooty attracts several tourists from across the country, locals fret over the district administration's failure to streamline traffic.
A Manikandan, Ooty town DSP told TOI, "Many roads have been earmarked as one-way just to ease traffic". In the past, the district administration had identified several places for parking lots, but nothing has materialized.