CHAPTER-III

NATURE-BASED TOURISM IN OOTY:

A MICROSCOPIC PERSPECTIVE

70

CHAPTER-III

NATURE-BASED TOURISM IN OOTY: A MICROSCOPIC

PERSPECTIVE

3.1. Introduction

Tamil Nadu is a land of magnificent ancient temples exhibiting the glorious

history and tradition of Dravidian art and culture. The State is not only famous for the

Hindu temples but also is gifted with churches and mosques signifying inherent

secularism of the land. Varied colorful fairs and festivals across the length and breadth

of the State demonstrate the cultural richness and diversity. Along with other tourism

attractions, various forms of nature tourism have made added appeal to the total tourism

landscape of the State. Major constituents of nature tourism include wildlife and bird

sanctuaries, national parks, forests, mountains, hill stations, natural scenery, spring

water and waterfalls. Possessing the enchanting tourism attractions and world-class

infrastructure at the selected destinations, the culture-rich state have made significant

progress in the tourism front, whether it is cultural tourism or nature tourism, the

government has left no stone unturned in strengthening the infrastructure and

superstructure for optimizing the prospect of leisure, business and VFR tourism. Tamil

Nadu has been one of the largest gateways to South-Indian states and most of the

organized tours get originated from Tamil Nadu, more importantly from Chennai. Over

and above, the Chettinad cuisine along with the South Indian breakfast and shopping

enriches the experience of the visitors and makes them remember and recollect their

experience for forever. Above all, people are friendly, peaceful, helpful, cultured,

enterprising and god-fearing. The chapter presents the microscopic overview of nature-

based tourism and other supporting facts and figures pertaining to the carrying capacity

71

and community participation in Ooty or Udhagamandalam. The places of tourist

interest of Tamil Nadu are given in Annexure VI for further reference.

Tamil Nadu has a multitude of tourist attractions: beaches, hill stations,

waterfalls, wildlife, religious centers, spiritual retreats, art, culture, architecture, crafts,

heritage, monuments, etc. enchanting and mesmerizing tourists. The Zero-Tolerant

Tourism Policy has been implemented to help protect and present the rich socio-

cultural values and customs to the visitors with an objective of offering novelty. The

paradigm of quality tourism is being maintained with the strict adherence to the

guidelines of tourism policy. Moreover, Tamil Nadu is now ranked as a second major

attracting destination across Indian States in attracting both domestic and foreign

tourists for various attractions. Last four years, tourist arrivals have registered more

than 20 per cent annual growth (Tamilnadu State Government Tourism Policy Note,

2009-10, Government of Tamil Nadu). The Niligiri District Map is given in Annexure

V.

3.2. Geographical Location of Tamil Nadu

The southernmost State of India is surrounded by one of the oldest mountain

ranges in one side and by the Bay of Bengal in other side. Total area of the state is

about 13,00,583 sq.km. The State is located in the hemisphere between 8º N and 13º N

latitude and between 78º E and 80º E longitude. The climate is temperate as well as

moderate throughout the year. However, April, May and June are the hottest months,

whereas December, January and February are the months giving mild cold in the

coastal districts and frightening cold in the hilly and mountainous regions like Ooty,

Kodiakanal, Yercaud, Hogenkkal, etc. Temperature goes up as maximum as 43º C and

as minimum as 18º C during the summer and winter months respectively. The State

72

receives rainfall from the return of northeastern monsoon during November-December.

The most precipitation is reported in the Niligiris and other hill areas. The annual

rainfall ranges between 25 and 75 inches. As per the 2011 population census, the State

has 6, 24, 05679 population with a growth of three per cent.

3.3. Enchanting Tamil Nadu

The captivating tourism places may be broadly divided into five broad

categories of attractions.

Scenic beauty such as hill stations, water bodies, wildlife sanctuaries and

beaches

Religious and Heritage locations( including temples, historical monuments

and heritage villages)

Fairs and Festivals

Adventure sports

MICE ( Meeting, Incentives, Convention and Exhibitions)

Enchanting Tamil Nadu has been the tagline for several years and it has created

a brand for herself at the source markets. The State has taken advantage of the

diversified attractions along with well-developed facilities and amenities. Out of all the

attractions, the natural scenic beauty along with activities has become a principal

attraction in Tamil Nadu. TABLE 3. 1 presents the nature-based tourism attractions and

their locations along with their main activities.

73

TABLE 3. 1

Major Nature-Based Tourism Attractions

Nature-Based

Tourism Hotspots Nature-Based Tourism Activities

Identified Spots

Ooty

Trekking, Hill Train & Mountaineering Mettupalayam to Ooty

Cycling & Biking Ooty and Mudumalai

Camping &Wildlife Mudumalai, Naduvattam

& Upper Bhavani and

Kundha

Horse Riding Ooty and Coonoor

Nature Walk, Boating & Swimming Pykara Waterfalls, and

Kalhatti Waterfalls

Kodaikanal Trekking, Mountaineering & Camping Kodai Road to

Kodaikanal

Yercaud Paragliding, Parasailing & Trekking Yercaud

Elagiri Boating, Trekking & Swimming Elagiri

Coonoor Natural Walk, Trekking & Mountain

Rail

Coonoor, Sim’s Park and

Cantonment

Mudumalai Wildlife & Watching Flora & Fauna Mudumalai & Wildlife

Sanctuary Source: Official Records, Department of Tourism, Government of Tamil Nadu, 2011

3.4. Tourist Arrivals to Tamil Nadu

TABLE 3.2 exhibits the tourist arrivals to Tamil Nadu from 2000 to 2010 (both

domestic and foreign tourist). Domestic Tourist Arrivals (DTAs) in Tamil Nadu

increased from 22.98 million in 2000 to 30.07 million in 2004, which shows 30. 83 per

cent growth during the same period. In 2005, the DTAs were 32.39 million and it

increased 103.01 million in 2010. The second phase witnessed 70.61 million DTAs,

that is around 2.17 times more in the State. The overall increase of DTAs to Tamil

Nadu between 2000 to 2010 was 80.21 million that is 3.48 times more in a gap of 11

years. The growth of DTAs is reported to be very significant and remarkable as

compared to other states in India. Several factors are explicitly responsible for the

growth of DTAs in the State. These factors comprise the air and train connectivity,

opening of more hotels, effect of advertisement and publicity, long peak season period

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and more gateway cities to South India. Apart from these common factors attributed to

the phenomenal growth of DTAs, other genuine factors are also associated with the

unique attractions to help rise in tourist arrivals. Tamil Nadu attracts a large number of

religious tourists for Velankani and Nagore as two holy places for Christian and

Muslim population. Since Chennai is a metro city with enormous business activity,

business tourism has emerged as a vibrant form of attraction and it adds to the growth

of total DTAs. The nature-tourism places of interest also constitute the major share of

DTAs in the State.

Total number of Foreign Tourist Arrivals (FTAs) in Tamil Nadu increased from

0.77 million in 2000 to 1.05 million in 2004 that shows a growth of 35.98 per cent. At

the same time, it increased from 1.18 million in 2005 to 2.8 million in 2010. The FTAs

from 2005 to 2010 has registered a growth of 1.37 times more. The final report on 20-

year perspective of tourism plan for the state of Tamil Nadu in 2003 has projected that

the state is expected to receive around 151.26 million in the domestic tourists and 2.14

million foreign tourists by 2020. Thus, Tamil Nadu will be becoming an important

tourism hub in India in the next 10 years. The State has two international airports at

Chennai and Trichy along with other international airports like Hyderabad, Bangalore,

Trivandrum and Cochin in the neighbouring states for the foreign tourists to prefer to

land to Tamil Nadu. Further, the air connectivity with these airports can make tourists

access to any South Indian States by taking the train or luxury bus services to reach at

important places of tourist interest in Tamil Nadu. Another important factor responsible

for the growth of FTAs is the world-class hotels and international hotel chains in major

cities and tourism destinations.

75

Despite the economic slowdown coupled with huge job loss, the annual growth

of DTAs is single digit from 2000 to 2003, whereas it is double digit growth ranging

from 11.16 per cent in 2004 to 33.14 per cent in 2010, excepting the year 2007, that is

7.51 per cent. The annual growth of FTAs has witnessed a single digit in 2002 and

there was a decline of -01.65 per cent growth of FTAs in 2001. The downfall could be

attributed to the several socio-economic risk factors, importantly, the political turmoil

in Indo-Pak border, the World Trade Center (WTC) Attack followed by the USA and

the UK’s military attack on Afghanistan and Iraq. It is quite astonished to see that the

annual growth of FTAs registered double digit growth from 2000 to 2010.

Contrastingly, the total year-wise growth of tourist arrivals in the State has reported

double digit, excepting 2002, 2003 and 2005. Furthermore, the growth of total tourist

arrivals has registered 29.71 per cent in 2010. The trend of the tourist arrivals has

clearly stated that there has been growth in the first decade of the new millennium or

the second phase of the liberalized economy of India. Especially, the growth from

2007 to 2010 has been remarkable, and the extraordinary growth indicates the diverse

tourism activities following the movement of tourists across the places of interest.

Certainly, tourism industry is all set in Tamil Nadu to be a giant contributor of State

Gross Domestic Product (SGDP).

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TABLE 3.2

Total Tourist Arrivals to Tamil Nadu (in Millions)

Year DTAs %

Growth FTAs

%

Growth Total

%

Growth

2000 22.98 0.78 30.84

2001 23.81 03.61 0.77 -01.65 31.54 02.26

2002 24.66 03.56 0.8 04.13 32.71 03.70

2003 27.05 09.69 0.9 12.04 36.07 10.27

2004 30.07 11.16 1.05 17.29 40.65 12.69

2005 32.33 07.51 1.18 11.43 44.12 08.53

2006 39.21 21.28 1.36 13.23 52.56 19.12

2007 50.64 29.15 1.74 31.31 68.17 29.69

2008 62.61 23.63 2.04 16.37 83.01 21.76

2009 78.03 24.62 2.37 16.12 101.72 22.53

2010 103.90 33.14 2.8 4.99 131.95 29.71 Source: Official Record, Department of Tourism, Government of Tamil Nadu (2010-2011) and The

Hindu Online Edition, February 16, 2011.

TABLE 3.3 exhibits that the FTAs to Tamil Nadu form 2000-2010 from the ten

lead countries in the world. Among the ten counties, Malaysia got the first position

that is followed by the UK, Australia, Sri Lank, the USA, Italy, France, Japan and

Germany in 2010. When the order of the rank of these 10 lead countries is compared in

2010, it shows the rank of the first four countries like Malaysia, UK, Australia and Sri

Lank are unchanged. However, the fifth-rank country USA in 2000 has been replaced

by Italy. The remaining leading source countries for FTAs to Tamil Nadu are ranked in

the same order in 2010 as they were in the same order in 2000. It is pertinent to find the

sustained rate of increase in the arrivals of Malaysian and Sri Lank nationals over a

period of 11 years. These two countries are the major overseas source market for the

State. It is found from the data that there might be major constituent of Visiting Friends

and Relatives (VFR) since sizable Tamil speaking populations live in these two

countries.

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TABLE 3.3

Foreign Tourist Arrivals from Top Ten Source Countries to Tamil Nadu ( in Millions)

Counties 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Malaysia 0.178 0195 0.180 0.216 0.254 0.291 0.321 0.398 0.630 0.650 0.661

UK 0.178 0.148 0.156 0.179 0.213 0.234 0.273 0.360 0.384 0.404 0.412

Australia 0.108 0.107 0.107 0.112 0.137 0.150 0.167 0.222 0.229 0.230 0.251

Sri Lanka 0.082 0.082 0.090 0.093 0.097 0.100 0.108 0.160 0.159 0.169 0.178

USA 0.069 0.066 0.055 0.063 0.075 0.087 0.094 0.127 0.125 0.134 0.149

Italy 0.038 0.043 0.050 0.058 0.068 0.078 0.095 0.127 0.138 0.147 0.159

France 0.041 0.048 0.051 0.058 0.068 0.078 0.087 0.113 0.116 0.128 0.138

Japan 0.022 0.020 0.021 0.024 0.028 0.031 0.036 0.046 0.053 0.553 0.056

Singapore 0.017 0.018 0.021 0.022 0.026 0.029 0.034 0.051 0.053 0.548 0.055

Germany 0.012 0.014 0.017 0.019 0.022 0.024 0.030 0.037 0.039 0.408 0.041

Source: Official Record, Department of Tourism, Government of Tamil Nadu, 2010.

TABLE 3.4 illustrates that the top ten state-wise domestic tourist arrivals to

Tamil Nadu from 2000 to 2010. As the DTAs have witnessed a significant growth

since 2006, the top ten countries are reported to be major contributors to the domestic

tourism in Tamil Nadu. While comparing the rank order of the first top ten domestic

source states, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka were found to be the first, second

and third source states respectively and the remaining other seven states were

Maharashtra, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and

Gujarat in the rank order from the fourth to the tenth in terms of domestic tourists in

Tamil Nadu. When the order of the rank of these ten states is established in 2010,

Gujarat with 8.923 million of domestic tourist arrivals has pushed down to Andhra

Pradesh to the second rank with 5.239 million of domestic tourists. Karnataka has

maintained as the third largest domestic source state for Tamil Nadu. The remaining

other states like Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and

Madhya Pradesh have been placed in order of rank from the fourth to seventh as the

domestic tourist source states for Tamil Nadu in 2010. The trend of domestic tourist

statistics has clearly reflected the change of choice of the domestic tourists to Tamil

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Nadu between 2000 and 2010. It is clearly indicated that Tamil Nadu attracts more

domestic tourists from Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Karnataka due its proximity of

culture, food habit, Dravidian language and climate condition.

TABLE 3.4

Top Ten State-Wise Domestic Tourist Arrivals to Tamil Nadu ( in Millions)

Tourism attractions are broadly classified into ten categories, such as

monument, geological garden, fort and palaces, boat house, memorials, dams,

pilgrimage centers, museums, hill stations and paintings. These are the principal

attractions dotted in the tourist map of Tamil Nadu signifying the unique features of

attraction. For example, the State is endowed with exquisite temples with intricate

carving depicting the stories from the epics and legends. There are magnificent temples

like Meenakshi Sunderiswar Temple in Madurai, the Thellai Nataraj Temple in

Chidambaram and the thousand-year oldest and tallest temple Briheadeswar Temple at

Tanjore. It is seen from TABLE 3.5 that the historical and cultural monuments across

the State have attracted the highest numbers of visitors from 2001 to 2010. The forts

and palaces, which were found to be the second best places of tourist interest in respect

of visitor arrivals in 2001, have been replaced by monuments in 2010. Furthermore, the

first-rank attraction (Monuments) has been pushed down to the second position in 2010.

The visitor arrivals in the hill stations of Tamil Nadu in 2001 were reported as 0.629

States 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Maharashtra 0.896 9.762 1.036 1.109 1.173 1.326 1.609 2.026 2.505 2.790 3.013

A P 1.793 1.643 1.726 2.002 0.226 2.393 2.980 3.900 4.133 5.012 5.239

Kerala 1.172 1.333 1.406 1.353 1.534 1.617 2.039 2.684 2.755 3.043 3.132

Karnataka 0.905 1.214 1.110 1.245 0.141 1.488 1.882 2.431 3.694 4.035 4.323

WB 0.621 0.786 0.814 0.866 0.782 0.808 0.941 1.266 1.691 1.889 2.039

UP 0.414 0.476 0.493 0.541 0.632 0.647 0.824 1.013 1.378 1.509 1.691

MP 0.483 0.429 0.469 0.487 0.511 0.582 0.745 0.912 1.190 1.240 1.391

Bihar 0.437 0.357 0.419 0.487 0.481 0.627 0.627 0.760 1.002 1.141 1.491

Rajasthan 0.368 0.381 0.390 0.433 0.511 0.517 0.588 0.760 1.002 1.999 2.310

Gujarat 0.262 0.247 0.298 0.391 NA 0.510 0.510 0.557 0.751 8.712 8.923

Source: Official Records Department of Tourism, Government of Tamil Nadu, 2010.

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million in 2001 and it has increased to 3.359 million in 2010. The rise of tourist arrivals

is about 6 times more in a gap of ten years. Thus, the growth of tourist arrivals has

witnessed manifold increase for all categories of attractions, including hill stations.

TABLE 3. 5

Tourist Arrivals of Top Ten Tourist Attractions in Tamil Nadu (in Millions)

Category 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

Monuments 1.931 7.688 6.618 8.348 8.324 15.262 8.350 8.782 8.935 9.023

Geo.Garden 2.943 2.120 2.631 2.434 3.130 2.188 3.769 4.266 4.591 5.098

Forts &

Places 3.514 3.036 2.866 0.261 1.955 5.470 3.073 3.175 4.036 4.330

Boat House 2.006 2.104 1.782 1.746 3.013 2.372 2.498 2.815 3.020 3.246

Memorials 1.005 1.379 1.600 0.951 0.339 1.243 1.820 9.142 9.835 9.910

Dams 3.455 2.366 1.019 1.098 1.247 1.733 1.908 4.308 4.598 4.690

Pil. Centers 10.11

3 8.737 13.346 14.374 14.698 23.858 28.971 47.164 5.099 5.349

Museum 1.662 1.631 1.345 1.088 1.111 1.279 1.505 2.672 2.898 3.098

Hill stations 0.629 0.545 0.343 0.417 0.470 1.216 0.969 2.606 3.031 3.359

Paintings 0.215 0.089 0.013 0.032 0.034 0.033 0.063 0.138 0.160 1.876

Source: Official Record, Department of Tourism, Government of Tamil Nadu, 2010.

TABLE 3.6 shows the tourist arrivals to these six indentified ecotourism sites

namely Ooty, Kodaikanal, Yercaud, Elagiri, Coonoor and Mudumalai from 2000 to

2010 in Tamil Nadu. Out of all these sites, Ooty alone received 1.647 Million domestic

tourists and 0.561 million foreign tourists in 2000, thus occupied the first ecotourism

site in attracting the highest number of tourists for varied motivational reasons. It is

reported in 2010 that Ooty has maintained the position as the first hill station or nature-

based tourism site with 5.548 million and 0.244 domestic and foreign tourist arrivals

respectively in all the years, excepting a marginal increase in domestic tourism arrivals

in Kodaikanal in 2005. Kodiakanal has been the second best preferred hill stations for

nature-based tourism and ecotourism as it has been consistently receiving the tourists

since 2001. The remaining other four ecotourism sites have also witnessed a rise in the

growth of tourist arrivals. The statistics of tourist arrivals has clearly revealed the heavy

inflow of visitors to these hill stations of Tamil Nadu and there has been a consistent

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growth of domestic and foreign tourist arrivals in Ooty. However, the growth of tourist

arrivals to Tamil Nadu have fluctuated between 2000 and 2010 and no sign of decline

in tourist arrivals has been reported in case of all these six hill stations, including

Ooty. It may be inferred that ecotourism and nature-based tourism as its principal form

in Ooty has been the focal attraction for the visitors. Thus, the increase in tourist

arrivals to Ooty is certainly not a healthy trend when Ooty’s carrying capacity and

socio-cultural impact are taken into consideration and discussions.

TABLE 3.6

Tourist Arrivals in Ecotourism Sites in Tamil Nadu (In Millions)

Year Arrivals Ooty Kodaikanal Yercaud Elagiri Coonoor Mudumalai

2000

Domestic 1.658 1.522 0.157 0.029 0.107 0.023

Foreign 0.056 0.046 0.001 0.001 0.002 0.004

Total 1.741 1.568 0.158 0.030 0.109 0.027

2001

Domestic 1.696 1.547 0.207 0.031 0.117 0.024

Foreign 0.057 0.046 0.001 0.002 0.002 0.003

Total 1.753 1.593 0.208 0.033 0.119 0.028

2002

Domestic 1.807 0.166 0.289 0.033 0.141 0.025

Foreign 0.067 0.051 0.001 0.005 0.003 0.004

Total 1.874 1.714 0.291 0.038 0.143 0.029

2003

Domestic 1.993 1.843 0.305 0.032 0.148 0.026

Foreign 0.074 0.057 0.002 0.005 0.003 0.004

Total 2.069 1.900 0.307 0.038 0.151 0.030

2004

Domestic 2.220 2.200 0.310 0.036 0.163 0.029

Foreign 0.086 0.066 0.002 0.006 0.003 0.005

Total 2.307 2.266 0.312 0.042 0.166 0.033

2005

Domestic 2.468 2.497 0.338 0.039 0.198 0.030

Foreign 0.099 0.074 0.002 0.007 0.003 0.005

Total 2.566 2.571 0.340 0.046 0.182 0.035

2006

Domestic 3.077 2.981 0.387 0.051 0.270 0.040

Foreign 0.108 0.079 0.002 0.009 0.004 0.006

Total 3.185 3.060 0.389 0.060 0.274 0.045

2007

Domestic 3.848 3.839 0.493 0.062 0.433 0.074

Foreign 0.128 0.097 0.003 0.006 0.007 0.007

Total 3.975 3.936 0.495 0.069 0.440 0.082

2008

Domestic 4.700 4.476 0.571 0.101 0.731 0.090

Foreign 0.143 0.099 0.003 0.007 0.012 0.009

Total 4.843 4.575 0.674 0.108 0.743 0.099

2009 Domestic 5.281 4.827 1.963 0.685 0.857 0.123

Foreign 0.223 0.143 0.004 0.017 0.010 0.015

Total 5.503 4.970 1.967 0.702 0.866 0.138

2010 Domestic 5.548 5.047 2.031 0.704 0.872 0.133

Foreign 0.244 0.153 0.004 0.019 0.010 0.015

Total 5.792 5.200 0.207 0.722 0.882 0.149

Source: Official Record, Department of Tourism, Government of Tamil Nadu, 2010.

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3.5. The Nilgiris – The Blue Mountain of South

The word Niligiris (split Niligiris or Neilgherries) is derived from two Sanskrit

words; ‘Nilam’ meaning blue and ‘Giri ‘meaning a hill. Thus, the literal meaning is

“The Blue Hill”. The origin of the name was known to all since the Hills rising

majestically were enveloped in a peculiar blue haze (Venugopal, 2006, p-75). The

Niligri, the Himalaya of South India, lies in the northwestern direction in Tamil Nadu.

Nevertheless, it is also one of the major hill stations of India. The Niligiris is one of

biodiversity hotspots in the Western Ghats and it lies at the junction of the Eastern and

the Western Ghats. It is a rich mountain ecosystem with having immeasurable impact

on the entire biodiversity of the Niligiri region. The hill district is located between 100

380

and 110

490

N latitude and 750 44

0 to 77

0 87

0 E longitude with elevation ranging

from 400 to 2636 above MSL. It is surrounded on the West by Kerala, on the North by

Karnataka and on the South and East by Coimbatore district of Tamil Nadu (Madhu

and Shahoo, 2005). The district is endowed with varied pleasant climate conditions

suitable for raising many traditional crops. The rich species, countryside and landscape

along with widespread vegetation like evergreen forest called Shola is generally seen

while travelling in the foothills between Mattupalayam and Udhagamandalam and

between Udhagamandalam and Gudalur.

3.5.1. The Niligiri District Profile

The Nilgiri district is spread over a total area of 2549.00. sq.km. The

geographical location of the district lies between 100

38’ and 11

0 49

0’N latitude and 75

0

44’

and 770

87’ E longitude. Total population, as per the 2011 census, is about 76,

21,41. As the climate is one of the major pulling factors of the Niligiri, April, May and

June are the hottest months with a variance of 18º C minimum and 43º C maximum

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temperature. December and February are the cool months varying temperature as high

as 35º C and as low as 17º C. The annual rainfall ranges between 25 and 75 inches.

3.5.2. About the Site

The very first name of the Ooty or Ootacamund was first found mentioned in

the Madras Gazette in 1821 and the name was subsequently spelt as

“Wotokymund” by an anonymous European correspondent. It is also fondly called

the Queen of Hill Stations (Price, 2002). Udhagamandalam, which is the Head Quarters

of the district, is the largest and one of the most important hill stations in South India.

The hill station is located at an elevation of 2286 meters and is situated in the centre of

the district. It is an extensive valley enclosed on all sides, but the west by a

lofty range of hills (Price, 2002,p 6.). Udhagamandalam or Udhai or Ooty is a Taluk

with 30.60 sq.km area under the administrative territory of Niligri district. The Taluk

is located between 110

and 24 b’N latitude and between 76

0 and 42’ E longitude. The

total population of the hill town is 20, 5433 lakh. April, May and June are the hottest

months. December and February are cool months. The temperature drops down as low

as 5ºC and as high as 21ºC in the winter months and temperature reached a maximum

of 25ºC and a minimum of 10ºC in the summer. The annual rainfall ranges between 25

and 75 inches. The tourist attractions of Niligiri District are given in Annexure IX.

3.5.3. Physical Features

On the basis of geology, topography, climate and nature of vegetation, the

district may be divided into five sub-regions such as Gudalur Plateau, Mudumalai

Region Hill, Sigur Forest Region, Ooty Plateau Region and Kundha Forest Region

(Report of Forest Expert Committee, 2009).

Gudalur Plateau: This region covers the part of Gudalur and Ooty taluks. It

constitutes an extension of the plateau of Kerala. The maximum height is 962 m as it is

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noted at Naduvattam town and the minimum height is 222m as it is found at

Nelliyalam town. However, the average height of this region is around 1200 to

1300 m.

Mudumalai Region Hill: This small region lies in the northern tip of this

district, lowering a portion of Gudalur taluk. This region consists of the typical

Mudumalai forest with a wildlife sanctuary mainly created for elephants. Both the

maximum altitude (1136 m) and the minimum altitude (900 m ) are located in the

region Mudumalai forest village. Many tributaries of Moyar River are originated from

this forest.

Sigur Forest Region: This region lies into the northern portion of the district,

comprising part of Ooty and Kothagiri taluks. This region is the meeting point of the

Western and the Eastern Ghats. The maximum height (1764 m) is located at Ebbaned

village of Kothagiri taluk and the minimum height (665 m) is reported in the forest

area. This region from the West towards the East forms to be the catchment areas of the

Moyar River.

Ooty Plateau Region: This region comprises the whole of Coonoor taluk and

part of the taluk of Ooty and Kothagiri. It lies at the confluence point of Western and

Eastern Ghats. Doddabetta (2644 m), the highest peak of the state, is located in the

Ooty plateau region. Average altitude of this plateau is 2100 to 2200 m. The steep hills

and narrow valleys with rivers and rivulets along with a few waterfalls form to be some

of the beautiful scenic sites for the onlookers and visitors. The minimum height in this

region is (1618 m) at Kilkundah village and it is surrounded by steep sloping hill

ranges. This region is drained by the Mayor River and Kallar River. These two rivers

are the tributaries of the Bhavani River. This region is well known for its beautiful

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scenery and pleasant climate perfectly fitting for the ecotourism and nature-based

tourism.

Kundha Forest Region: This region is a small area in Ooty taluk. This region

is bounded by valley and surrounded by steep sided hill regions. The entire region is a

basin with a number of reservoirs like Pykara reservoir, Mukurathi Lake, Parsons

Valley, Emerald reservoir, Upper Bhavani etc. The Maximum height is 2625m as it is

seen in Kolari peak of the Mulligur village of Ooty taluk.

3.5.4 Climatic Conditions

Though Ooty is situated in the tropical zone, it also comes under subtropical to

temperate climate by virtue of its altitude. The climate of the region is tropical up to

900 m and subtropical from 900 m to 1800 m along with mountain temperature above

1800 m. The mean minimum temperature was 10.0 Celsius and the mean maximum

was 29.8 Celsius during 2007-08. Even though the low temperature, the hill station

does not witness snowfall. Ooty receives the southwest monsoon that onsets from

September to December. The coldest month is December and the hottest month is April

with a dry wind from the northeast. Frostily nights are common between January and

February. Wind velocity of this region shows maximum and minimum of 13.4 km an

hour and 4.4 km an hour respectively. Average monthly humidity also ranges from 70

per cent to 94 per cent in July.

Average rainfall in the district is 1180 mm and the total rainfall was 1872.4.mm

during 2008-2009. The first three months of every year are almost rainless. February is

found to be the driest month. Rainfall is spread over all four seasons viz. December-

March, April-May, June-August and September-November with most of the rainfall

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concentrated during June through November. However, maximum amount of rainfall is

recorded during July 299.5mm. Intense rainfall often occurs in the order. Erosion

intensity is high in May, October and July. The incidence of drought is also common

form soil and water conservation point of view. High incidence of drought during April

and December and heavily during May, July and October has already posed threats to

the ecosystem of Niligiris (Department of Economics and Statistics, 2010).

3.5.5. Geology

The geology of the Deccan plateau is very stable when compared to Northern

plains and the Himalayas. The Geology of the area consists of Choc Kites of Niligiris

genies varying from acid to ultra basic ones. The intermediate is most common

geological formations. The minerals in the rock are blue quartz, plagioclases, feldspars

and hornblendes and the secondary minerals include garnets (Palanisamy, 2005). The

Charnockite group of rocks with the enclaves of Satyamangalam Schist Complex is

heavily deposited in the region. This group represented by Chamcokite and Pyroxene

granulite and covers a major part of the district in the southern part. This is popularly

known as “Nilgiri Massif”. The Bhavani Group (Peninsular Gneissic complex)

comprises Fissile Hornblende Biotite Gneiss. The Satyamangalam Schist Complex is

represented by Quartzsericite / Mica Schist, Ultramafics and banded magnetite

quartzite.

The Nilgiri Massif is capped by a luminous laterite at a number of places

indicating the deep zone of weathering (Ganapathy et al, 2010). Most of the parts of

this region’s rocks are deeply weathered and the soil thickness is found to be upto 40m

with lithomarge and it is a common feature in the district. The low gradient of slope in

Ootacamand promotes stagnation of surface water as bogs and swamps (GSI, 2000).

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3.5.6. Biodiversity

This region harbors a wonderful collection of flora and fauna. Considering the

richness of biological diversity on the district, the area was chosen in 1986 as the site

for conservation of biological diversity of peninsular India and designated to Niligiris

the Biosphere Reserve (NBR) under the United Nations Educational, Scientific,

Cultural Organizations (UNESCO) Man and the Biosphere programme of the

Development of Environment and Forest, Government of India ( Ranith, 1996). The

natural vegetation of the valley is typically a dense rather low forest with much

undergrowth and many epiphytes, mosses and fauna. Both tropical and temperate floras

occur and vegetation is tropical in character at lower elevations and temperature at

high elevations. Botanically, zoologically, ethnologically and ecologically, the Nilgiris

forms a typical forest and is called as ‘’’Shoals’ (Kondas, 2005). The followings are

the different types of vegetation given below;

The Shola and grassland vegetation of the Nilgiris plateau

The open sandal bearing scrub of the Sigur plateau

The most deciduas and dry deciduous teak forest of the Nilgiris- Wayanad

The forest of south eastern outer areas

Forest: The Nilgiri tract was the first choice of the constitution of the biosphere reserve

in India in 1956. The total area of the biosphere is around 5670 sq.km, out of which

2,020 sq.km is the core zone and 2290 sq.km is restoration zone which includes

substantial undisturbed areas of natural vegetation types such as dry scrub, dry and

moist deciduous, semi-evergreen, wet-evergreen forest, ever-green forests and swamps.

Various forms of forest range from 22 per cent in Coonoor taluk to 66 per cent in Ooty

with a range of 56.6 per cent for Nilgiri district.

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Man-Made forest comprises Eucalyptus Globules (96.6 sq.km) Acacia Merrily

(140.8 sq.km) and Pinups Platula (11.9 sq.km). Natural forest called “Shola” occupies a

meager area of 15 sq. km. This region has been attracting ecologists for a long time to

study the distinct plant communities such as extensive grassland and evergreen “shola”.

Trees in the Shola belong to the families of Bricaceae, Laureceae, Myrtaceae, Rosaceae

and Styraceae represented by genera like Litsea, Phoeve, Rhododendron, Siderroxylon

and Syzium. The Shoal has top story, under storey, undergrowth, dency leaf litter and

homus along with good growth of epiphyes, linchens, mosses and lianes. A good

number of perennial streams are originated from this shola. A botanical study of the

shola has revealed that no single species predominates. The Shola adds to beauty of

countryside and it is immensely used in protecting the perennial sources of water

supply in the stream under the maintenance of ecological balance (District Forest

Office, Official Website, 2010).

Flora : Out of the 141 endemic genera in India, 50 of the important one are

spread over the Western Ghats and 11 of them are seen in this area. At the species

level, out of the estimated 2100 sq.km. of flowering plants endemic to peninsular India,

a total of 818 sq. km. is to be found in the Nilgiris and adjoining areas. The genus

Baeolepies with a single species nervosa is restricted to the Nilgiris. Out of the species

of endangered flowing plants of Tamil Nadu, 25 of them are exclusively seen in the

Nilgiris and many orchids are also seen. A large number of medicinal plants are also

integral part of the biodiversity of the Niligiris. About 200 plant species have been

reported and species are commonly exploited due to overexploitation of certain species

have become rare (State Environment Report of Tamil Nadu,p-8).

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Fauna: The fauna of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve includes over 100 species of

mammals, 350 species of birds, 80 species of reptiles and amphibians, 300 species of

butterflies and innumerable invertebrates. 39 species of fish, 31 amphibians and 60

species of reptiles. These species are as endemic to the Western Ghats as to the Nilgiri

Biosphere Reserve. Fresh water fishes such as Danio Neilgheriensis, Hypselobar

Busdubuis and Puntius Bovanicus are restricted to the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve. The

Nilgiri Tahr, Nilgiri Langur, Slender Loris, Blackbuck, Tiger, Gaur, Indian Elephant

and Marten are some of the animals found in the forest (State Environment Report of

Tamil Nadu,p-6).

People: The people of this hilly region, prior to the occupation of the British in

1819, consisted of the Todas, Irulas, Paniyas, Kurumbas, Koatas and Kattunaikkas as

the indigenous communities of the hilly area. The ancient pattern of human settlement

and among these communities was unique. Though each of these groups had its own

language, tradition and custom, all four tribal groups depend on agriculture and

traditional occupations. TABLE 3.7 shows the tribal population in the Ooty taluk as per

the 2001 census data. In the whole Nilgiri district particularly Ooty taluk, Todas, Irulas,

Kurumbas and Kotas are settled, but no Paniyas and Kattunaikkas settlements are seen

in the Ooty taluk.

TABLE 3.7

Tribal Population in Ooty Taluk

Sl.No Name of the Tribes Population in Total

1 Todas 850

2 Irulas 1809

3 Paniyas Nil

4 Kurumbas 295

5 Kotas 1158

6 Kattunaikkas Nil

Total 4012 Source: Nilgiri District Official Website http://nilgiris.nic.in/. Accessed on 20.12.2010.

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The Todas: Todas population is roughly around 850 and most of them live in

and around Ooty taluk and very insignificant numbers are settled in other taluks like

Kothagiri, Coonoor and Kundha. Their livelihoods were once centered on their herds of

buffalos and their milk. Huts are great anthropological significance. Their traditional

huts are shaped like barrels made of specific thatch grass, bamboo, reeds, specific tree

poles and plenty of rattan cane. Todas have highly structured clans among themselves.

Their language is Dravidian, but it is extremely rare of non-Todas to acquire familiarity

with it. They have their own pantheons of deities and the sacred geography of their

afterworld as it believed among the Koatas in this region (Mathur, 2005, p. 5.).

The Kotas: The Kota tribes is one of the Dravidian tribal communities

inhabiting the Nilgiri region. The tribe group constitutes a small and low ranking tribal

community having symbiotic relationships with the Todas, Badaga and Kurumba of

Nilgiris. They speak a mixed dialect of Canarese, Tamil and Malayalam. According to

2011 census, the population of the Kotas is about 1,158. The settlement of the Kota is

linearly divided into localities called Keris. Their houses are built with stone and tiles

and it is known as Kiakaals (Mathur, 2005, p. 2.).

The Kurumbas : The Kurumba tribes are claimed to be one of the autochthons

of the Ooty region. This tribes are also known as the Alu Kurumba tribes that is a

distinct community found on the southern and southeastern parts of the high plateau

around the Doddabetta peak. The Alu Kurumba tribes had practiced sorcery

exterminated entire hamlets of the Kurumbas in relation for the sorcery that are alleged

to have been committed by them. The Kurumbas are used to live in rock shelters or

houses or huts in small settlements in the forest areas. Today, majority of them lives in

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the substandard huts. They are generally found in hamlets of four or five huts scattered

timbers, wild grass, bricks and mortar (Venugopal. D, 1993,p. 13.).

The Paniyas : The Paniyas are another significant group of tribes sharing a

habitat in Gudalur taluk and extending to neighboring areas in Kerala as well as

Kodagu (Karnataka). Many of them hereditarily served their Chetti landlords and their

ilk. It is a very timid community and they are basically animists in their beliefs and

practices. Their language is said to be derived from Tamil/Malayalam-Kodagu branch

of South Dravidian (Mathur, 2005, p.10).

The Irulas: The Irulas are found mainly in the Southern and Eastern slopes of

the Ooty region. They have certain features that distinguish them from the tribal of the

same name inhabiting Coimbatore and Kerala hills. The Irulas in the eastern slopes are

legendarily associated with the Rangasamy cult, a popular religious ceremony centered

on the Rangasamy peak in Kil (Lower)-Kotagiri. Kasavas, the allied tribe, live in the

northern slopes of the hills. They are used to be the dynamic purveyors of forest

produce. They are the traditionally hired herdsmen from Badaga pastoral camps in

Mayor Basin. Both the groups practiced some kind of multi-layer cropping system and

additionally reared some goat and cattle. Presently, most of them are also employed in

plantations and other wage earning enterprises (Parthasarathy.J, 2005).

3.5.7. Structure of Local Administration

For the purpose of administration, the Niligiri district has been divided into four

blocks such as Udhagamandalam, Coonoor, Kothagiri and Gudalor, with the district

headquarters at Udhagamandalam, Ooty or Udagai. The district is divided into two

revenue division and six taluks (till recently, the district had only four taluks viz., Ooty,

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Coonoor, Kothagiri and Gudalor. The taluks of Kundah and Pandalur have been created

with the recent bifurcation from Ooty and Gudalor taluks for local administration. The

district has two Municipalities, one Cantonment, four Panchayats Unions, 21 Towns

and 27 Village Panchayaths (http://nilgiris.nic.in/). The Nilgiri District Map is given in

Annexure V.

3.5.8. Land Using Pattern

In Ooty and the adjoining areas, many different types of cropping patterns

have been developed after the Hill Area Programme implemented by HADP (Hill Area

Development Program). The importance of this programme is to increase the persistent

crops. Eco-development is the primary agenda of the HADP to reduce the soil erosion

and increase the vegetation cover. The other objective is to increase the economic

activities through agriculture, horticulture, floriculture and sericulture in the hill region.

Land in the Nilgiri was covered with shola (Southern with Mountain

temperature evergreen forests) with rolling grasslands. Todas, the original tribes, who

were pastoral in the habit, burnt the forests. Later, Badagas migrated and started

cultivation. However, the British settlers introduced potato, tea, eucalyptus, acacia and

temperature fruit trees. Abundance of grasslands and forests now provide scope for

extensive cultivation of tea, coffee, cinamon, blue gum, Blackwattle, peaches, pears,

plums, oranges, potato, temperature vegetables etc. Out of these changes of crop

pattern, potato and vegetable crops are grown without adoption of sustainable

conservation measures. As a result, the cultivation of potatoes, tea and vegetable not

only produce heavy soil loose, but also soil the mountain landscape and beauty of the

region. Further, Tea, paddy, tapioca banana, ginger, turmeric etc have been introduced

at Gudalur and Pandalur, thereby causing heavy erosion.

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3.5.9. Agriculture

Agriculture is one of the main activities in the Ooty region. Of the total of the

district, only one fourth land is cultivable. Non-food crops are cultivated in nearly 65

percentage of the area and food crops like tea and coffee as the major non-food crops

are grown in the remaining cultivable area. Tea cultivation covers 50 percentage of

total area which is mainly located in Ooty, Coonoor and Kothagiri. Coffee as one of

the chief crops of the region is grown in nearly 2000 hectares and it is mainly in

Gudalor. Sinchona and lemon grass are other major non-food crops grown in Ooty.

Among the food crops, potato is grown in a large scale, whereas paddy and cereals are

grown in Gudalor areas. Potato, carrot, beans, beetroot, radish and cauliflower are the

major vegetables grown in this region. As per the recent survey, vegetables are grown

in over 7500 hectares of the total cultivation area and a bulk of the vegetable grown in

the Nilgiris is transformed to other centre for sale. Total area under the fruit cultivation

is 612 hectares. Orange, Jackfruits, Blum, Pears, Bananas, Apples and Mangoes are the

fruits grown in the Niligiris. Plumbs of Ooty and Mandarin oranges of the Kookal

valley are the premium varieties. The Horticulture Department is actively engaged in

providing necessary help to the farmers to grow fruits cultivation. Ginger, lemon, grass,

garlic, rubber, cinchona and pepper are also grown in a limited scale in Gudalur block.

Eucalyptus and Geranium are grown sustainably in Ooty block. As a result, Eucalyptus

and Geranium oil units are producing oils for the medicinal use. The extracted

Eucalyptus and Geranium oil are sold throughout the country, Nilgiri District Collector

for Development/ Project Officer, DRDA, 2006,p.13).

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3.5.10. Expansion of Industrial Development

The Nilgiri district is known for its tea processing plants. There are 185 tea

factories spreading across Ooty and its surroundings. The coffee produced in the district

is processed at Mettupayalam or Coimbatore. As the vast area is under Eucalyptus

plantation, Eucalyptus oil is pursued at the several cottage industries. The HPF

(Hindustan Photo Film) manufacturing company limited is an important unit of the

public sector, located in Ooty. Cordite factory, Food Specialties India limited, Protein

Product of Indian Limited, Needle Industry Private limited and Bonds India Private

Limited are operating their manufacturing units in Ooty Nilgiri District Collector for

Development / Project Officer, DRDA, 2006).

3.6. Development of Tourism in Ooty

Tourism has become the mainstay of the economy of hill town since it was

brought to the limelight by the British. Development is imperative through tourism as it

has already been found from the several studied funded by the Government. Apart from

the traditional means of providing occupation and livelihood to the local people,

tourism has been figured out as a major catalyst for laying a strong foundation for

socio-economic development since it is evident from the growth of domestic and

foreign tourist arrivals. It is the total tourist arrivals that act as the indictor of inflow of

revenue through tourist expenditures, thereby triggering a ripple multiplier effect in the

local economy. The Tourist Map of Ooty is given in Annexure VII.

3.6.1. Tourist Arrivals at Ooty

TABLE 3.8 illustrates the total tourist arrivals and the breakup of domestic and

foreign tourists into Ooty for a period of 11 years. Ooty with such beauty and other

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important infrastructure is no doubt a-year-round destination attracting hundred

thousands of visitors from all over the world. There has been a steady increase in tourist

arrivals year-on-year basis. The table reports that the year 2007 witnessed the highest

growth of 25.06 per cent as compared to the lowest growth in 2001. However, the

double-digit growth of total tourist arrivals as well as the DTAs is reported from 2003

to 2009. On the other hand, the growth of FTAs was double digit from 2002 to 2004

and from 2007 to 2009. Surprisingly, there was a tumble in FTAs in 2005 and it is the

lowest growth in the same year. After registering a remarkable 55.03 per cent growth in

FTAs in 2009, it has a nosedive in 2010. Similarly, there has been a decline in growth

of DTAs and total tourist arrivals since 2008. Nonetheless, it is figured out from the

analysis that there has been an increase in tourist arrivals, but there has been a

significant fall in the tourist arrivals.

Thus, the trend of tourist statistics has explicitly indicated the sharp decline in

tourist arrivals in Ooty. It would be positive to manage the carrying capacity that has

largely become a chronic issue, but it would be negative in revenue generation,

followed by economic development in Ooty. Furthermore, Ooty is exception to the

international trend of tourism and tourist movement across the world. The fluctuations

of tourist arrivals are directly linked to the inflow of tourist arrivals to India. Finally, it

is inferred that the rising tourist arrivals have triggered many challenges to the District

Administration and Tourism Department to respond to the consequences in the future

regardless of downfall in the growth of tourist arrivals. The Niligiri District Map is

given in Annexure VIII.

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TABLE 3.8

Tourist Arrivals to Ooty (in Millions)

Year DTAs %

Growth FTAs

%

Growth

Total Tourist

Arrivals

%

Growth

2000 16.57 0.056 17.13

2001 16.95 2.29 0.057 2.11 17.53 02.29

2002 18.06 6.56 0.067 16.80 18.74 06.87

2003 19.93 10.30 0.074 10.11 20.67 10.29

2004 22.20 11.40 0.086 16.68 23.07 11.59

2005 24.67 11.14 0.990 01.44 25.66 11.26

2006 30.76 24.65 0.011 09.70 31.84 24.08

2007 38.47 25.06 0.0.13 18.15 39.75 24.82

2008 46.99 22.14 0.014 12.19 48.42 21.82

2009 52.80 12.36 0.022 55.31 55.03 13.63

2010 55.48 05.61 0.024 09.73 57.92 05.02

Source: Official Records, Department of Tourism, Government of Tamil Nadu, 2010.

3.6.2. Primary Tourism Infrastructure

The Nilgiri Hotel and Restaurant Association (NHRA), Ooty collected and

compiled the number of different types of hotels in 2010. TABLE 3.9 presents the types

of hotels, number of rooms and beds in Ooty. It is reported that there are five five-star

hotels with 100 rooms as against three two-star hotels with 120 rooms. At the same

time, there is no three-star and four- star hotels in Ooty. As many as 500 budget hotels

and 225 cottages, guest houses and lodges are the registered accommodation operators

providing 200 and 1125 rooms respectively. The analysis has revealed that there is a

mismatch between the demand and supply for the hotel rooms in Ooty. When the total

tourist arrivals are taken into consideration, the existing number of hotels and rooms

must be insufficient. Visitors are bound to pay the rate for a room whatever is charged

by the accommodation operators.

It is a fact that all these accommodation units have abysmally low occupancy

rate in the off-season. It is strongly recommended to the Government of Tamil Nadu to

attract more hotel companies to add more rooms in the inventory in Ooty in the future.

Otherwise, the inflow of tourists should be regulated to make a possible balance

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between the available rooms and demand for rooms. Keeping in view the prospects of

Ooty as a world-class nature-based tourism, the government should draft an exclusive

policy for all the hill stations with special emphasis on Ooty to ensure inclusive

development, thus managing the issue of carrying capacity.

TABLE 3.9

No. of Registered Hotels in Ooty

Sl.No Types of Hotels No. of Hotels No.of Rooms

1. Five Star 05 100

2. Two Star Hotel 03 120

3. Budget Hotel 50 200

4. Cottages, Guest Houses and

Lodges 225 1125

Total 283 1935 Source: Official Record of Nilgiri Hotel and Restaurant Association, (NAGAR Group of Hotels), 2010,

Ooty.

Given the size of tourist arrivals and length of stay, the Municipal Corporation

has registered as many as 131 food stalls, restaurants, bakeries, sweet stalls and coffee

shops in 2010. TABLE 3.10 shows the number of registered eatery places in Ooty in

2010. Out of the registered shops, there are 67 numbers of food stalls and restaurants as

against 42 bakeries & sweet stalls and 12 coffee shops. The data have been collected

and compiled by the Nilgiri Food Stalls and Restaurants Association (NFSRA) to take

care of the common interest of the registered eatery places and help the Municipality

ensure the quality of food. It is very sensitive in nature that visitors consider the

hygienic at the eatery places as the most important element to become healthy during

the tour. The data clearly state that the number of registered shops is inadequate to cater

to the growing number of tourists.

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TABLE 3.10

Registered Food Stalls, Restaurants, Bakeries and Coffee Shops in Ooty

Sl.No Types of Establishments Total No.

Establishments

1. Food Stalls & Restaurants 67

2. Bakeries &Sweet Stalls 42

3. Coffee Shops 12

Total 131 Source: Official Record of Nilgiri Food Stalls and Restaurants Association (Ooty Coffee House), 2010,

Ooty. .

3.6.3. Transport and Other Infrastructure

This region has a good network of roads running in all directions connecting to

various key locations across the State. The Ghats roads have been laid to facilitate the

safe operation of transports. The Coonoor Ghat road connecting Mettupalayam and

Coonoor forms the main lifeline from the foothill to Udhagamandalam. The Siriyur

Ghat road starts from the northern crest of the plateau and passes through Masinagudi

and Theppakadu and joins the Gudular-Mysore road access to the border of Kerala

through Cherambadi. TABLE 3.11 presents the classification of roads along with the

length of roads in Ooty in 2005. It explains that the construction of new roads has not

been taken up by the government since 2005.

Thus, the Central and State allocations have been spent for the expansion of

width of roads and maintenance of all categories of roads. Further, A total length of all

categories of roads is about 1793.83 km. in 2005. Out of which, 109 km. is the

National Highway; 87.20 km. is the State Highway, 210.73 km. are the Corporation and

Municipalities Roads, 670.88 km. is the Panchayat Union and Panchayat Roads, 532

km. is the Town Panchayat and Townships Road and 184 km.comes Under Forest

Road in the Ooty region.

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TABLE 3. 11

Classification of Roads in the Nilgiri Region

Sl.No Types of Road Road Length

1. National Highways from 20.06.2005 109

2. State Highways from 20.06.2005 87.20

3. Corporation and Municipalities Road 210.73

4. Panchayat Union and Panchayat Road 670.88

5. Town Panchayat and Townships Road 532.02

6. Others (Forest Roads) 184.00

Total Roads in Kms 1793.83 Source: Nilgiri District Collector for Development / Project Officer, DRDA, 2006.

Ooty can be easily and comfortably approached by road and rail. By road, from

the east, one can reach Ooty from Coimbatore (90 km.) en-route Mettupalayam and

Coonoor. The 160-km road from Mysore to Ooty passes through the Mudumalai

Sanctuary and foothill town of Gudalur. Detours can also be made in either of the route.

The different roads and the diversions leading to Ooty are enjoyable in their own ways.

Lofty mountains, dense forests, sprawling grasslands and vast stretches of tea gardens

greet the tourists along the routes. There are bus connections to most villages in the

district via one of three towns. There are also frequent bus connections to the nearest

mainline railheads of Mettupalayam and Coimbatore. Ooty is well connected with

major cities of Tamil Nadu and with major cities at other bordering States.

The Nilgiri Mountain Railway (NMR) is proved to be a marvel of engineering

skill in the history of construction of railway lines during the Colonial Rule in India.

The Mountain Rail was built in 1899 and has been in the services of the people since it

chugged off. It is operated at 1700 ft MSL from Mettupalayam and ascends within a

short span of 46 km, 7300 ft. MSL to reach Ooty. The average gradient on the line is

one in 24.5 with maximum gradient of one in six. There are five stations between

Mettupalayam and Coonoor – Kallar, Adderley, Hill Grove, Runnymedu and Kateri.

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There were also five stations between Coonoor and Fernhill. Of these, Adderly,

Runnymade, Kateri and Fernhill are some of the abandoned stations.

It is one of the oldest mountain railways in India. The NMR is a UNESCO

World Heritage Site declared in July 2005. This connects Ootacamand with the town of

Mettupalayam at the foothills of the Nilgiri Mountains.

Coimbatore Airport is about 90 km. from the Southeast of Ooty. It has domestic

flights to several major Indian cities and is a model international airport with direct

services to Singapore, Sharjah and Colombo. The next nearest international airport to

Ooty is Karipur International Airport in Calicut, which is at a road distance of 146 km.

from the West of Ooty. Steps are being undertaken to start a helicopter shuttle service

from Coimbatore. The journey will take approximately 20 minutes and will cost Rs.

4500 per passenger for a one-way flight.

3.7. Measurement of Carrying Capacity

Based on the different observations of sustainable nature-based tourism

development, objectives of the calculation of carrying capacity differ from place to

place (Tran et al 2007). Hence, this measurement of carrying capacity is an essential

technique to regulate the tourist entry into the places of interest. The estimation has

been carried out with the help of tourist arrival statistics.

The nature-based tourism destinations in Ooty that include Botanical Garden,

Rose Garden and Boat House. These three sites selected for the measurement of

carrying capacity are based on the results of Friedman Rank Test of tourist

attractiveness in Ooty presented in Chapter IV. According to Maldonado et al., 1992,

three types of carrying capacity have been calculated for these three sites separately.

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These three different types are called as the Physical Carrying Capacity (PCC), Real

Carrying Capacity (RCCa) and Effective Carrying Capacity (ECCb)

Physical Carrying Capacity: Physical carrying capacity is calculated

according to the space necessary for one person to move freely in a specified time and

is assumed to be one square meter per person. The average trail (path) is one meter

and each tourist can use at least one liner meter of the trail at any given movement. For

this study, Botanical Garden’s trail (path) has been taken for the calculation (Ceballos-

Lascurrain, 1996).

Tourists follow the trail (path) in a group consisting 25 members, including

a guide.

A distance of at least one meter is maintained between the groups

The trail (path) has a length of 400 meters

An average time of one hour is required for a tourist to see the Botanical

Garden

The Botanical Garden remains opened to the tourists for seven hours per day

and 365 days per year.

Thus, the calculation of the PCC is as follws;

PCC= Length X Tourists Meter X Daily Duration ( hrs/day)

= 400 X 1 X 1 X 7

= 2800 Per Day

= 2800 X 365 Tourists Per Day

= 10, 22,000 Tourists Per Year

Real Carrying Capacity (RCCa): The RCCa refers to the maximum number

of tourists that the local conditions and management capacity allow without influencing

the tourists’ demand. In the event of the occurrence of heavy rain at any time during

the winter, summer and monsoon season, the botanical garden may be closed and

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tourist may be prohibited to enter into the Garden. Natural disturbance (FND) and

Weather Condition (FW) were collected from the tourists respectively. Hence, climatic

condition, natural disturbance, whether and vulnerability factors are taken as the

limiting factors.

FP : Precipitation

FND: Natural Disturbances

FW: Weather Condition

Limiting Factor (1) Precipitation

Limiting Factor (2) Natural Disturbances

Limiting Factor (3) Weather Condition

The formula of RRCa is as follows;

The calculation of RCCa is as follows;

RCCa = 2800 X 0.999 X 0.992 X 0.999

= 2800 X 0.97

= 2716 Per Day

= 2716 X 365

= 9, 91,340. Per year

Effective Carrying Capacity: (ECCb) The ECCa refers to the difference

between the actual management and the ideal management capacity of the Botanical

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Garden given by the numbers of personnel (100 office and administrative staff, park

guards and guides are employed in the garden). The ideal management capacity is

given by the number that would be required to fulfill all factions allocated to the staff of

the Botanical Garden is 390.

The formula of ECCb is as follows;

The calculation of the ECCb is as follows;

= 2716 X 0.5642

= 1532 Per Day

= 1532 X 365

= 5, 59,314 Per Year

Thus the PCC is 10, 22,000, the RCCa is 9, 91,340 and the ECCb is 5, 59,314.

Therefore, the results of the three types of calculation clearly indicated that the

Botanical Garden has faced the problem of physical, real and effective carrying

capacity limit.

The PCC of Rose Garden

Total Length of Trail (Path) - 1000 meters

Width of Trail (Path) - 1 meter

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Each Tourist Needs at least - 1 Sq.km.

Max. Visitation Hr. - 1 Hr.

Opening Hrs. of Garden - 7 Hrs.

The Formula of PCC is as follows;

PCC= Length X Tourists Meter X Daily Duration ( hrs/day)

By assuming the maximum, the calculation of PCC in Rose Garden is as follows;

= 600 X 1 X 1 X 7

= 4200 per day

= 4200 X 365 tourists per day

= 15, 33,000 per year

The formula RCCa is as follows;

FP : Precipitation

FND: Natural Disturbances

FW: Weather Condition

Limiting Factor (1) Precipitation

Limiting Factor (2) Natural disturbances

Limiting Factor (3) Weather condition

The formula of RCCa is as follows;

The calculation of RCCa is 4200 X 0.998 X 0.992 X 0.999

= 4200 X 0.995

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= 4153 Per Day

= 4153X 365

=15, 15,845.Per Year

The formula of ECCb is as follows;

The calculation of ECCb is as follows;

= 1873 per day

= 1873 X 365

= 6, 83,646 per year

Thus, the PCCis 15, 33,000, the RCCa is 15, 15,845 and the ECCb is 6,

83,646 in the Rose Garden. Hence, the results revealed that all the PCC, RCCa and

ECCb have cross the carrying capacity limit.

The followings are the PCC of Boat House.

- Total length of the boat house - 850 meters

- Length of boat - 7 meter

- Distance of between ticket counter and boat parking - 5 meters

- A minimum distance between two - 5 meters

- Average distance between two tourist - 1 meter

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- Maximum number of tourist on a boat - 13 +1 (operator)

- Maximum boating hours - 1hour

- Opening hours - 8 hours

The formula of PCC is as follows;

PCC= length X tourists meter X daily duration (hrs/day)

By assuming the maximum,

= 850 X 1 X 1 X 7

= 5950 per day

= 5950 X 365 tourists per day

= 21, 71,750 per year.

The variables of RCCa are as follows

- FP : Precipitation

- FND: Natural Disturbances

- FW: Weather Condition

Limiting factor (1) Precipitation

Limiting factor (2) Natural Disturbances

Limiting factor (3) Weather Condition

The Formula of RCCa is as follows;

By assuming this,

RCC = 5950 X 0.998 X 0.992 X 0.999

= 5950 X 0.9890

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= 5884 Per Day

= 5884 X 365

= 21, 47,917per year

The formula of ECCa is as follows;

= 2653 per day

= 2653X 365

= 9, 68,594 per year

Thus, the PCC is 21, 71,750 that is followed by RCCa with 21, 47,917 and

ECCb with 9, 68,594. Hence, the PCC, RCCa and ECCb have already crossed the

threshold limit at the Boat House in Ooty. It is concluded that all three types of carrying

capacity have already become excess at the Botanical Garden, Rose Garden and Boat

House. The results have divulged the excess of carrying capacity that will result in the

visitor dissatisfaction, trampling, noise pollution, etc. With this backdrop, the

Department of Horticulture, Government of Tamil Nadu ought to be pro-active in

restricting the number of the visitors into the Botanical Garden and Rose Garden and

the TTDC must also take steps in reducing the number of visitors into the Boat House.

The findings have further suggested that both the Department of Horticulture and the

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TTDC should expand the areas to accommodate the increasing number of the visitors or

regulate the entry timings.

3.8. Major Tourist Attractions in Ooty

Ooty is the largest taluk in the Nilgiri district with 16 different tourist places of

interest as catalogued by the Department of Tourism, Government of Tamil Nadu. Out

of these spots, three tourist spots namely Botanical Garden, Rose Garden and

Herbarium come under the jurisdiction of the Department Horticulture, Government of

Tamil Nadu. Two boat houses, one Children’s Park and one Peak (Doddabetta Peak)

are owned and maintained by the TTDC. One Race Course is owned by an individual.

The remaining spots namely Pykara Dam and Waterfalls, Avalanche Shola Forest,

Glonmorgan, Parsons Valley, Kalhatty Water Falls, Valley View and Kamaraj Sager

Dam and Cairn Hill are maintained under the direct administrative control of the

Department of Forest. However, some of the tourist spots in Ooty are managed by the

Nilgiris District Administration.

Botanical Garden: The main attraction for the visitors in Ooty is Botanical

Garden. This Garden was established in 1847 by the Marquis of Tweedale and is spread

over 22 hectares ascending the slopes on the hill at an elevation of 2,400 meters above

the Main Sea Level (MSL). The sprawling green garden is well maintained with the

lawns, trees along with a 20 million-year-old fossil tree, an Italian-style garden, a

variety of flowers, and plants, fern house with a vast range of ferns and orchids and a

pool. The Department of Horticulture organizes the Annual Summer Festival at the

Botanical Garden in May, during which different indigenous flowers are exhibited to

attract more number of visitors to the garden. The habitation of Toda tribe with their

traditional culture is seen in the eastern side of the garden.

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Boat House: The Ooty boat house, being maintained by the TTDC, is a must-

see tourist spot for the visitors with recreation and relaxation as the primary purpose.

The lake is located in the west of Udhagamandalam and the water level is maintained

with check-dam across the rivulet in the valley. The length of the lake view is about

2.75 km. and the breadth varies from 100 to 140 meters with an area of over 65 acres.

The establishment of this scenic lake is as old as the identification of Ooty as a summer

retreat center for the British Administration. Further, the lake was transformed into a

recreation center with the direct support of the then District Collector of Ooty, Mr. John

Sullivan during 1823 – 1825. The TTDC has made adequate arrangements of the row,

peddle and motor boats for the visitors. Horse ride and the Mini Train are some of the

added attractions near the Ooty lake view.

Doddabetta Peak: The Doddabetta Peak is a mandatory sightseeing spot

situated a distance of 20 km. from the Ooty town. The peak is the highest point with

2,623 meters from MSL in the Nilgiri region. Unforgettable experience for the nature

lovers, the panoramic view of the topography and vegetation from the viewing tower is

certainly something to be remembered for good. Most striking feature of the visit to the

peak is the walk along side of the tall pine trees. The Coimbatore city and the flat

highlands of Mysore can also be sighted with the help of a telescope.

Race Course: Race course about 2.4 km. long is a very popular sport activity

during the summer months of April, May and June.

Rose Garden: The oldest garden of the hill town has already celebrated its

centenary year and it is now named as the Centenary Rose Park. Being located in the

heart of Ooty town, the garden is spread over 10 acres of extensive land with rose

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tunnels, pergolas and bowers along with rose creepers and it is maintained by

Horticulture Department, Tamil Nadu. As many as 3000 varieties of roses are

nourished in the garden and some of the roses are hybrid tea roses, miniature rose,

floribunda and ramblers with black and green in colours. From the Nila Maadam, the

complete spectacle of the world-famous garden can be beheld and enjoyed. The World

Federation of Rose Societies (WFRS) in 2006 awarded the Garden of Excellence to the

Rose Garden in Ooty.

Pykara or the Water Falls and Dam: The Pykara is the largest holy river as

believed by Toda tribe in the Nilgiri District. The river flows on the Ooty-Mysore road

at a distance of 20 kms from Ooty. The river Pykara is originated from the Mukurathi

peak and flows through hilly tract of the North and West of the Nilgiri forest before

reaching at the edge of plateau. The perennial river flows down gorgeously in the

forms of cascades, thus created two falls measuring 55 meters and 61 meters known as

Pykara falls. The Pykara Lake provides a lot of recreational activities like boating and

rowing. Wenlock Downs is a vast expanse of grassy meadow on the way to Pykara

River and offers a favorite picnic site for the school children and weekenders. The

meadow also is an ideal location for the film shooting.

Mini Garden-Children’s Park: The Mini Garden for children’s amusement is

situated on the way to the boathouse. The TTDC maintains a toy train and a snack bar

for the visitors.

Avalanche Lake, Dam and Valley: The Avalanche Valley is named after a

devastating landslide that occurred in 1823. The Avalanche Dam and Lake are

located on the way to Upper-Bhavani from Ooty via Emerald Camp at a distance of 25

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km. The views from the top of the hill at Avalanche give an incredible sight of the

valley and reservoir. The valley is a home to a wide variety of birds attracting the bird

lovers and the dam is also a home to out fish encouraging the angling activity.

Nonetheless, the shoals are a heaven for rare temperate Orchids. A dam across the

avalanche is popularly called Canada Dam since the construction of dam was funded

by the Canada Government.

Kamaraj Sagar Dam: The Dam is a popular beaten spot for picnic lovers.

Picnic activity is allowed on the slopes the Wenlock Downs. Fishing in the Dam adds

much interest with the visitors.

Glenmorgan: The Glenmorgan Tea Estate is situated at a distance of 25 km.

from the northwest of Ooty. It is one of the oldest estates in the region even much

before the execution Pykara Hydro Electricity project at a height of 938.78 meters. A

haulage way or the mechanical rope way connecting to the powerhouse at Singara

provides a thrilling experience. The view from the rest house at Glenmorgan is

panoramic.

Kalhatty Falls: Ooty is known for its cascading waterfalls and many waterfalls

feed the waters to the rivers and natural lakes. Thus, Kalhatti Falls is about 120 feet

with hiking, bird watching and trekking activities. It is located at a distance of 13 km.

Ketti Valley View: This valley is one of the largest valleys in the world and is

extended from the plains of Coimbatore to the Mysore Plateau. This viewing tower is

located at a distance of 7 km. from Ooty on the Ooty-Coonoor Road.

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3.9. Issues and Challenges

The significance of Ooty is better known from its rich ecological diversity and

physiographic differentiation. In a short distance of 50 kms., the average annual rainfall

ranges between 1000 mm and 3000 mm and the altitude between 300 mm and 2600

mm. This variation explains a large variety of vegetation types from evergreen forests

to jungles. The extremely fragile ecosystem of Ooty sustains different categories of

biological resources and supports human existence in the hill and in the surrounding

plains. The resources generated in terms of water, energy and other forests products

have a significant impact on the region’s economy.

The degradation of the environment and ecology along with the natural beauty

of Ooty is well documented. The Geological Survey of India (GSI) presents that

preventing environment from degradation in this region has gone beyond the limit and

capacity. The harm has already been done to a maximum extent. It is the time to

prevent further damage and take steps to reduce the magnitude of damage. It is

fundamental that the cost of repair or cure is always more than the cost of prevention

(GSI, 1982). Truly correct, tourism development is one of the fundamental reasons for

the negative impacts on the ecology and environment of Ooty. These environmental

and ecological problems must be attributed to the changes of land use and its

consequence, siltation, soil erosion, land sliding, developmental issue, mass tourism,

cultural distraction, vehicle entries, extension of monoculture, industrialization and

urbanization.

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The shoals are referred as “living fossil” because they do not give any return

to the forest physiognomy. The initial micro climatic forests that are prevailing in the

degraded areas never allow the tropical stocks of sholas to regenerate.

Change of Land Use and Its Consequences: Ooty has experienced massive

development in the last two decades and tourism enterprises are the principal users of

the land. As a result, the natural forests and grasslands are converted to the well-

developed urban center with rampant construction of concrete buildings for the purpose

of the comfort of the visitors. More importantly, numerous changes in the land cover

have occurred with the extensive cultivation of tea, coffee, cinchona, bulegum, wattle,

peaches, pears, plumes, oranges and potato, temperature vegetables etc. Conversion of

forest land into agriculture land under the then popular slogan “grow more food

camping” during the World War II could allow more encroachment on forest lands and

grasslands to meet the food, fuel and fodder requirement of the human and animal

population. Further, the exploitive adaptation methods of cultivation have also caused

much destruction to the soil, topography and climatic condition.

It is noticed that the destruction of indigenous ‘shola’ forest and grasslands with

the sporadic tea plantation and construction of connecting roads on the steep slops has

resulted in the drying up of some of the tanks and streams. It is regularly reported that

the landslide, flash floods and droughts frequently occur in the Nilgiri region and

paralyze the normal life.

Studies so far conducted at the Central Soil and Water Conservation Research

and Training Institute (CSWCRTI) at Udhagamandalam indicated the high amount of

soil loss in potato cultivation on the hill slopes. The tea plantation without soil and

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water conservation measures has also contributed to heavy soil loss. The sedimentation

studies conducted by the Institute of Hydraulics and Hydrology, Government of Tamil

Nadu indicated that 31.56 per cent to 38.90 per cent of loss between 1966 and 1982

has already occurred in stage capacity due to siltation in Pegumbahalla and Pillor

reservoirs respectively. The emerald Avalanche reservoir has lost only 7.05 per cent of

its capacity between 1961 and 1981. The low rate of situation in the Emerald-

Avalanche and Pykara reservoir is reported due to 90 per cent coverage of forest in

catchment areas. Tea estates and vegetable cultivations have equally contributed to the

soil erosion. All the three reservoirs are located in the Kundha system of reservoirs in

the Bhavani river basin and they are washing away the shore so much so that the depth

of the reservoirs is decreasing with erosion of hillock and forest lands.

This hilly region alone produces 840 MW of power generating revenue to the

tune of rupees Rs. 500 crore annually. Over the years, these natural ecosystem and

watersheds have faced with sporadic changes in the wake of the road and building

construction. Building of a series of hydro-electrical projects, tunneling the water to

different areas for irrigation, building reservoirs, planting the upper areas with

commercial pulpwood species and replacing natural grassland with tea and marshes

with vegetables have all changed the Ooty’s natural topography and surrounding water

regime. Thus, the land-use pattern indicates drastic changes from 1970-71 to 2000-

2001. The net-sown-area in the district was increased from 21 per cent to 31 per cent

and the land under miscellaneous tree cover rose to 69 per cent. These changes have

occurred at the cost of barren and cultivatable wastelands and pastures. In the view of

the fact, there is a need for attention to sustain the over growing population and food

security for this region.

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Siltation: There are fifteen hydro power reservoirs in the Ooty and in the

surrounding region. In the steeply sloping regions, the cultivation of clean-tilled crops

like potato and tea cultivation has been adopted as an alternative cash-crop and this has

resulted in the impact on the soil and water conservation measures. The reservoir

sedimentation rate is relatively high where the catchment area is largely under

cultivation of annual crops with faulty land management activities.

Soil Erosion: Conservation of forest lands into agricultural lands and

encroachment into the forest and grasslands to meet the food, fuel and fodder demands

due to the unchecked human and population growth rates with utter disregard to the

soil, up and down cultivation, shifting cultivation have identified as the main causes of

severe soil erosion and degradation. This is especially true in the case of conservation

of forest lands having deeper root system into agricultural lands which have relatively

shallow root system.

Landslides: A rapid growth of urbanization and commercial plantations

coupled with increasing pressure on land for agriculture and monoculture plantations

has displaced an alarmingly high proportion of natural forests and grasslands leading to

an extensive loss of biodiversity, thereby making a big threat to the Nilgiri as a

biodiversity “hotspot. Lacks of tree covers on the steep slopes, cultivation of annual

crops and tea on the steeper slopes have become the genuine reason for the landslides.

Further, 33 per cent of the hill terraces are without proper soil conservation measures.

Lack of proper drainage system (for surface and sub-surface in the water), extension of

cultivation right into the natural drainage way and construction of houses in valley near

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drainage way and long wet spells are the main causes of landslide/ slips in the district.

TABLE 3.12 presents major landslides in the Ooty region.

The study conducted on the land use, soil and water conservation and landslide

by CSWCRTI in 1967 proposed for mechanical soil conservation measures, vegetative

measures, water harvesting, and utilization of steep slopes, agri-horticulture, agro-

forestry and hydro-ecological aspects. The GSI, studying the Ooty region since 1927

has suggested for the Natural Hazard Evaluation Method (NHEM) to control the loss

caused due to heavy development.

TABLE 3. 12

Major Landslides in the Ooty Region

Occurrences Month &Year of Major

Landslides in Nilgiris Affected Area

October, 1865 Worst Storm on record occurred

around Ooty and Coonoor

Ooty Lake and Coonoor Railway

Station

November, 1891 Storm caused many landslips on the

Coonoor Ghat Kotagiri Mettupalayam Road

December, 1902 Twenty one inches of rain (three

times the average amount) Coonoor Lake, Kotagiri

October, 1905 6.8 inches of rain fall at Coonoor in

three hours and the Coonoor river Coonoor Railway Station,

November, 1978

323 mm of rain fall in the district,

of which 243 mm at Ooty

Kookalthorai, Madithorai, Adashola and

Kallatty Areas of Ooty Taluk and

Manthada of Coonoor Taluk.

November, 1979

Heavy rainfall started from Nov.12

to 13 and the highest rain fall 169

mm

Kodanad, Doddacombai and Coonoor

October 1990

A cloud burst in the wake of the

Northeast Monsoon and washed

away 18 huts on the foothills

Marappalam and Coonoor.

December, 1998 Continuous rain fall and earth slip Coonoor and Mettupalayam

December, 2001

Continuous rainfall, two massive

landslides occurred. Complete

damage of nearly 55 hill grove

railway station

Pudukadu on the Coonoor and

Mettupalayam

November, 2006 Many landslides Mettupalayam and Coonoor

November, 2009

Tamil Nadu via Mettupalayam

road damaged due to heavy rain

and landslides

Ooty, Coonoor and Kotagiri

Source: Ganapathy (2010).Need and Urgency of Landslide Risk Planning for Nilgiri District, Tamil

Nadu State, India, International Journal of Geomatics and Geosciences Vol.( 1), pp,29-40.

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Unplanned Development: The population of Ooty and its surroundings areas

had increased from a mere from 3,000 in 1821 to 7, 35,071 in 2011. The high growth

of population at Ooty is reported due to the heavy immigration of people from the

backward district of the bordering states. The displacement of people from the power

projects in the early 1950s, the rehabilitation policy of 1960s and the growth in

plantation sector subsequently also increased the population growth.

The cumulative average growth of population in this region in 1901 increased

from 05.08 per cent to 07.69 per cent in 2001. The overall growth is around 3.0 per cent

as against 2.62 per cent growth in Tamil Nadu. The density of population of this

region was 277 per sq.km. as compared to the 429 per sq.km. for Tamil Nadu. The high

density of population in Ooty is an indicator of the pressures on the environmental

carrying capacity (Palanisamy, 2002).

As indicated earlier, the population growth in this region is mainly in Ooty was

reported due to the migrated population. The dependent female migrants along with the

labour also seem to be very high as reflected in the non-worker migrant population to

Ooty originated from drought prone, economically underdeveloped southern districts of

Tamil Nadu or underdeveloped districts of Kerala. A significant proportion of migrants

are reported from the economically weaker section of the society. The proportion of

Scheduled Caste (SC)in this region 30.2 per cent that is higher than the state average

19.2 per cent.

Mass Tourism: As per the data compiled by the TTDC, Nilgiri is generally

visited by approximately around 2.5 million tourists, whereas tourist arrivals to Ooty

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till 2010 were around 48 million (Commissioner of Tourism, Government of Tamil

Nadu, 2009). It shows that Ooty receives more than two-folds tourist inflows while

compared to the whole Nilgiris District. As a result, Ooty seems to have exceeded the

carrying capacity limit due to mass tourist arrivals. Tourism industry could help the

district overcome the tea industry crisis (Thomas, 2005).

The mass tourism has become the onslaught on the fragile ecosystem.

Insufficient urban infrastructures and services have also raised the questions of

sustaining the tourism destination. The weekenders and day-visitors overcrowd the

places of tourist interest in Ooty and its surrounding areas. A number of buses and

motorized vehicles are also used to transfer these visitors to the hill stations directly

creating air and noise pollution. As the interest of the tourist groups is to entertain them

with recreational alternatives, the visitors are generally less eco-sensitive while using

the facilities and amenities (Venugopal, 2005).

Cultural Distraction: The Queen of Hill Stations has been a major tourist

attraction for more than hundred years. However, the level of participation of local

people in tourism business remains marginal. On the other hand, a great amount of

interference and cultural injury is caused to the privacy and living pattern of the

indigenous communities like the Todas .

In view of the scope for promoting alternative tourism as a source of sustainable

livelihood for the tribal and indigenous communities of the region, a site-specific and

community-specific micro tourism enterprise should be evolved in consultation with

the respective communities. The stakeholders should also be involved in such

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enterprises for their income and employment. In this context, the model or experiment

in alternative tourism adopted for the Periyar Tiger Reserve and Chinnar Wildlife

Sanctuary of Kerala can be emulated for Ooty (Palanisamy, 2002).

Extension of Monoculture: The results of hydrological studies conducted on

the identical catchments and on conservation of national grasslands 1968 at the

Glonmorgan by the CSWCR illustrated that significant reduction in stream flow was

reported during this period due to conversion of similar trends in the case of other fast-

growing species like Acacia, Mearsil (Black Wattle) in the Parsion’s Valley catchment.

Planning large scale conversion of grasslands into plantation of forest growing species

particularly Eucalyptus in the catchment of the Niligiri reservoirs has been undertaken

in massive scale. Though the canopy of tea bushes when it is fully developed causes

massive erosion and there is a heavy soil loss till the canopy is developed. Most of the

tea plantations owned by small farmers do not have tea canopy even after ten years due

to bad management and inadequate inputs. As a result, farmers dismantle the potato

cultivation to grow haphazardly tea plantations (Venugopal, 2005,p-79).

Urbanization: Urban development in Niligiri is in utter chaos. The Coonoor

town seems to have grown at its own accord without any control over the year. Gudalur

and Kothagiri are fast growing and they are over bounded by the influx of repatriates

and encroachers. Civic amenities have become woefully inadequate to cater to the

migrated population Draining used water has been a perennial problem. Sewerage

system is inadequate to the local population and tourists.

The problem of sewerage and drainage gets compounded when the heavy flow

of tourists is reported during the summer months. During summer season, the situation

becomes worse as lakhs of tourist arrive in Ooty Most of the hotel buildings are multi-

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storied to increase the capacities of rooms and beds.. In short, the urban setting is

described as ugly and unsafe. The urban decay in the Niligiris is largely the result of

over population, excessive commercialization and sheer absence of town planning. The

surge in recent years in investment by outsiders is another contributing factor for

increasing urbanization.

3.10. Observation of Vehicle Entries to Ooty

The primary objective of the research is to identify and measure the negative

impacts of mass tourism activities at Ooty. Road transportation is a vital segment to

transfer the tourists to Ooty and the heavy tourist inflow through the road transportation

by car, coaches, and public transports during the summer and winter season is reported.

The environmental degradation due to the heavy usage of road transport system has

gone unnoticed. To overcome this chronic problem, the researcher made an observation

for a period of one week in the summer months (May- July-2010) as well as in the

winter months (October- December-2010), especially during peak traffic hours i.e.

from 0900 to 0915 Hrs, 1300 to 1315 Hrs, and 1800 to 1815 Hrs.

The data collected firsthand are presented in TABLE 3.13. It is reported that

there is no significance difference in vehicle movements during the observed time

intervals between summer and winter season. In general, more vehicle movements were

found during weekends than on weekdays. Ooty was once a seasonal destination and

the hill station has now become a year-around- destination. Therefore, the carbon

emissions have become a major threat to the scenic beauty of Ooty.

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TABLE 3.13

Vehicle Entries to Ooty

During Summer Season During Winter Season

Govt. Vehicles Private Vehicles Govt. Vehicles Private Vehicles

In Out In Out In Out In Out

23 20 120 121 25 23 133 121

28 25 112 132 28 24 130 132

32 30 130 132 24 22 111 124

27 31 121 126 25 21 101 123

28 32 131 141 27 21 125 131

29 29 114 121 29 27 112 135

32 27 132 123 32 27 100 126

27 31 141 152 21 25 125 132

32 19 132 141 19 21 112 134

42 36 112 132 25 31 132 121

31 23 136 129 27 29 121 131

24 33 121 131 26 28 115 121

25 23 132 112 33 21 114 132

27 31 163 111 34 32 149 101

37 32 251 99 28 23 144 118

35 20 211 121 30 22 113 106

32 30 186 112 21 29 121 109

23 29 145 101 31 22 132 100

33 30 110 76 27 22 115 126

24 32 130 145 28 20 120 135

20 30 120 150 22 28 86 145

588 573 2830 2487 537 495 2378 2482 Source: Researchers’ Own Observation of Vehicles Entries to Ooty at Charring Cross, 2010.

3.11. Conclusion

Ooty is no doubt a fascinating destination. People friendly approaches and

beauty of Ooty keep tourist hooked towards this Queen of Hill Stations in South India.

This has created much loyalty and attachment of the visitors towards Ooty resulting in

the increase in tourist arrivals and the positive and negative impacts on the ecology and

environment. People and authorities were very much impressed by the economic

benefits percolated from the tourism activities by keeping aside the importance for

sustainable development with native people participation. This has created irreparable

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damages that have to be addressed immediately. Owing to this, the next chapter has

presented the role of tourists, community members and tourism service providers with

reference to the issues and challenges of maintaining the sustainable nature-based

tourism. This chapter has reflected upon the present state of affairs in tourism

development in Ooty.