Coonoor is a famous tourist attraction in the Nilgiris District. During season times, the place is thronged with lakhs of people who tend to miss their belongings due to negligence and theft. In order to address the issue and safeguard the lost properties, the Coonoor traders association had taken up the initiative of collecting such unclaimed, lost items and protecting them at the their office.
Unclaimed belongings found on the road side, parks if found can be handed-over to the association who will in turn make an announcement with the names on the belongings. If still unclaimed, those belongings will be kept at their officer until the owner claims for it.
Speaking on this, Coonoor traders association President, R. Parameshwaran has stated that 'Tourists tend to miss a lot of their belongings like ATM cards, credit cards, cameras, hand bags, car keys, wallets etc at parks, boat houses and market areas. Mostly the auto men collect such unclaimed things and hand it over to our office. Recently, we have handed-over close to 25 lakhs and 2 thousand rupee worth of belongings to their owners after due verification. The owners were surprised and glad to get back their valuable belongings after a long search.
Still, we have lot of valuable belongings unclaimed at our association office. People can approach our office that is situated near the market area and claim the belongings after producing proper verification. We also request the tourist to keep a tight vigil on their things to avoid unnecessary tension during their visit to Coonoor'.
The information about the object thus collected will be announced over a loudspeaker in the market area. Tourists who have misplaced the belongings can visit this center and collect the same by providing their valid identity card.
R. Parameshwaran president of the Coonoor traders organisation said“ At present ATM cards, keys, watches, wallets and purses, identity card including Aadhaar card worth 25 lakhs and 2 thousand rupees have been returned to the owners through this service center. The happiness that the owners experience when they get back their lost belongings, makes us happy.” he said.