E-pass system: Commercial establishments down shutters in Ooty, tourists affected

The protesting shopowners and tourist and taxi operators want the withdrawal of the e-pass system, saying it was affecting their livelihood.

Chennai: For the first time, the new e-pass system restricting the number of tourist vehicles has come into force in the tourist towns of Udhagamandalam, or Ooty, and Kodaikanal. The two towns, in the past few years, have witnessed a huge inflow of people during May and June to escape the heat, seriously affecting the ecology of the picturesque tourist spots.

With the new system set to remain in force until 30 June, shops and establishments in the Nilgiris district downed their shutters on Wednesday in protest against the move, which has been implemented based on the orders of the Madras High Court.

Thousands of tourists who are already in the tourist town and nearby areas like Kothagiri and Coonoor were severely affected due to the day-long shutdown, forcing them to turn to Amma Canteen for food. Commercial establishments feel that restricting the number of vehicles inside the district during summer will affect their business, which is solely dependent on the inflow of tourists.

Only 6,000 vehicles will be allowed inside the picturesque Nilgiris district during weekdays, while the number will be 8,000 during weekends. There was also a huge pile-up of vehicles at the foothills of the Nilgiris on Wednesday, with confusion prevailing over the e-pass system.

“We came to Ooty on Monday, and we feel we are stuck. We had to suffer to get food for the whole of Wednesday,” a tourist said.

Ooty is not just a major tourist destination for people from Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka but is also a lifeline for the western region of the state, as most perennial rivulets originate from here. Ooty attracts about a million tourists each year during April–June, while Kodaikanal and nearby villages have become a favourite escape from the heat. This has led to unregulated growth and tourism in the two hill stations.

An unprecedented inflow of tourists into Ooty in April 2024, with about 20,000 vehicles entering during weekends, prompted the High Court to introduce an e-pass system to keep a tab on the number of vehicles. The effects of climate change are already being witnessed in Ooty, with the town recording near-zero temperatures with a nail-biting cold in January 2024 and the summer temperature hitting 29 degrees Celsius, the highest since 1951.

The state government engaged the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M), and the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIM-B), both prestigious institutions, to conduct detailed studies on the carrying capacities of Kodaikanal and Ooty and suggest traffic management through extensive field surveys.

The study will consider and give its suggestions on implementing a visitor quota or entry permits to control the number of tourists accessing the sensitive areas within the hill stations. It will also recommend the required traffic management to ease congestion, reduce pollution, protect the wildlife habitat, and propose initiatives to manage waste, a key component.