Ooty badly in need of a facelift

A badly damaged part of the main road at Charing Cross in Udhagamandalam.With just a few weeks left for the curtain to go up on the Autumn tourist season in this holiday destination, concern over the lack of efforts to make the place presentable has started growing among the people here.A view shared by residents representing a cross section of the society was that the appearance of the town had never been as deplorable as it was now. Emphasising the need to start work forthwith on giving a much-needed facelift, they said that it should begin at Charing Cross on the threshold and end at the Ooty Lake on the far end of the own.

Focus should be on repairing the roads and improving the footpaths, many of which were not serving their purpose now. The standard of sanitation and hygiene should be high in the town and places where people congregated. The civic amenities should be more than adequate.Pointing out that tourism played a major role in ensuring the economic well being of the hill station, people in the travel and tourism industries said that only if steps were initiated immediately on a war footing could Udhagamandalam be made presentable by early September, when the tourist season would begin.

The officials particularly in the civic administration should not shirk their responsibilities by pointing a finger at the wet weather, they said and contended that the weather cannot be blamed for all the ills plaguing the town.For the sorry state of affairs pertaining to Udhagamandalam rapidly turning into a huge ‘septic tank’, the municipality is finding fault with the sloppy manner in which the Restricted Sewerage Scheme was implemented about 12 years ago. Meanwhile the hapless people are at their wits’ end.

They said that inter-departmental coordination was the need of the hour and if need be a special committee should be constituted. Though Udhagamandalam was badly in need of a face lift even associations which claimed to represent the people such as the Citizens Forum of Ootacamund were doing precious little to galvanise the officials into action. Though the Public Awareness Association of Udhagamandalam was repeatedly focussing attention on the shortcomings in the town, remedial measures were conspicuous by their absence, they said.

Citizens forum president Motilal Kataria said that the Forum was not a ‘silent spectator’. Efforts made by the forum periodically to draw the attention of the authorities were being stonewalled.Udhagamandalam Municipal Commissioner Seeni Ajmal Khan said though the unfavourable weather and funds were a constraint efforts were on to spruce up the town. He said the drawbacks at Charing Cross would be set right within a few days.