Ooty or Udhagamandalam, better known as the “Queen of Hill Stations” in the South , is among the favoured tourist destinations in India.
The two-hour drive uphill from Mettupalayam through the picturesquelandscape leaves one bemused with its beauty. But the huge trees protruding from the rocks en route and the giant boulders jutting out from the thick green cover can be a little scary, as the route is prone to landslides during heavy rain.
During the colonial period, this hill town was considered the summer getaway for the British. It has maintained this image by continuing to attract top leaders during the summer months and tourists all through the year.
It is because of its ample natural beauty and its flora and fauna that it was declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO.
The Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve is rich in plant diversity. Said to be the first Biosphere Reserve in the country, it is located in the Western Ghats, encompassing parts of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka. The total area of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve is 5,520 sq km (with Tamil Nadu accounting for 2537.6 sq km, Kerala for 1455.4 sq km and Karnataka, 1527.4 sq km).
The uniqueness of this biosphere reserve has been the foremost reason for the conservation efforts in the Nilgiris. “People here live in consonance with the environment and wildlife habitat. This is one unique feature of this entire ecosystem. It is also a blessing as people from all over the world come here on holiday, enjoy the climate,” says J Innocent Divya, Disrict Collector, Nilgiris.
35 lakh instead of 7
She also highlights some infrastructure bottlenecks that stand in the way of conservation initiatives. “The infrastructure and facilities of this hill town have been designed to handle only a certain number of people. The population of the entire district is around 7 lakh whereas close to 35 lakh tourists set foot in the Botanical Garden alone every year. This does not include those who visit the hill district to have a glimpse of other tourist spots in and around Ooty. So, there is a huge load on the infrastructure — the roads, drainage, water availability — none of these are designed to take on this load,” says Divya, and concedes that the district administration is unable to do much except manage the situation.
This load puts severe pressure on construction activities, especially because 56 per cent of the district is under forest cover.
“Hill district cannot have the same developmental parameters as that of the plains (district). That should be the policy forward as in the North-East, with focus on conservation of the ecosystem,” avers Divya. Nilgiris, incidentally, is one of the 32 districts in the State and the developmental parameters for this district are no different from those applicable to the rest in the plains.
The district administration feels that there should be a separate policy framework for Nilgiris keeping in mind the tourist flow and the conservation measures.
‘Curtail construction’
The green cover has been attracting tourists but sadly it is getting reduced because of the change in land use pattern. With the plantation industry in crisis and small growers and planters selling their holdings and migrating elsewhere, there has been a degrading impact, with buildings coming up in erstwhile tea gardens.
The district administration has, in the last one year, identified 283 vulnerable locations where construction has been banned. Of these, 50 were identified during the last season when there was copious rain. The administration has formed a District Committee with the Collector as the Chair person and the Mines and Engineering, Geology and Forest department officials on board.
This Committee receives all applications relating to construction, both residential and commercial.
The administration has prepared a policy document on “No construction zone” which is to be submitted to the Government by December.
The administration recently cracked the whip on 27 resorts constructed in violation of forest, building and panchayat Acts in the most critical elephant corridor.
Waste management
Garbage collection and disposal is seen as a major issue, especially during peak season. While the municipality has ensured door-to-door collection of waste, the residents of Ooty feel that visitors lack civic sense.
“They litter the place and it takes a lot of effort to bring it to shape,” says Shobana Chandrasekhar, a youngster spearheading the MOB (Make Ooty Beautiful) Project.
Besides sensitising school and college students about the need to keep the environment clean, Chandrasekhar says she has also managed to get the district administration to impose a ban on paper cups. “In fact, it is the only district in the State where paper cups have been banned.
To ensure that the ban is followed in letter and spirit, we created a Green Brigade by involving the heads of various associations and urged them to impose a fine on anyone who did not toe the line. Enforcement plus implementation should go hand in hand to step up public awareness.”
Plastic waste is collected for recycling by a private agency. Five micro composting yards are getting ready for disposal of wet waste. “These should be ready in a month,” says Divya.
Water, drainage systems
Ooty municipality has had no issue on the water front. “We have enough springs and rainfall is quite sufficient to take care of our water requirements. Nevertheless, there are pockets like Coonoor that face short supply. But this is not due to insufficient water but a poor distribution network,” says the district collector.
The administration has sought funds from the government to strengthen the distribution network.
The drainage system has been designed to take care of the Ooty municipality population’s requirement, but in a given weekend, when the influx is huge, the pipes are unable to take the load and tend to burst. To address this issue, the district administration has asked bulk users such as hotels and resorts to establish their own drainage mechanism.
“We are not able to give new connections and the existing drainage lines have already exceeded their capacity. We have disconnected the lines of those that have been letting drainage into the channel, served notices on 1,300 bulk users.”
Whether it is Ooty, Shimla, Nainital or Madikeri, it is important to recognise these hills as ecologically sensitive zones and prepare a distinct development plan for them.
It is troubling that even after the floods in Kerala and Karnataka, the two State governments have been averse to accepting even the recommendations of the Kasturirangan Committee report, which declares only 37 per cent of the Western Ghats as an ecologically sensitive area. The Madhav Gadgil Committee report had suggested declaring the entire Western Ghats region as ecologically sensitive.