Ooty - redefining itself.

[suba]

:)

OOTY -

The disaster is huge this year when compared to the previous years.

Has the time come for mankind to move out from the mountain?

Would we ever stop constructions on the mountains?

Hope it would be no more a tourist haunted spot.

Will it become like valparai and top slip with restricted permission for tourists?

One thing is clear. This Queen of Mountains want to redefine herself.

Any thoughts guys.....

:)

[app_engine]

Are there statistics as to how many people are employed by the tea farms / what are their remunerations etc?

I think tea is the #1 killer of almost all the mountain resources in the western ghats. Tourism is not as bad a killer as tea. Ofcourse, Ooty has been bombarded by crowds from the 80's (even Kodaikkanal has become crowded from 90's, per my observation). That industry can perhaps be regulated to get more revenue to the gov / locals and in turn pumped into the maintenance / management of the resources there. (There are any number of examples abroad where nature is enjoyed by crowds of visitors without wreaking too much havoc to the environment).

OTOH, nothing much can be done about the tea :-(

[suba]

:)

i am not sure about tea plantation as mountain resource killer but i am very much sure about the real estate business and maram vetties in Ooty.

i have been to places like valparai, munnar etc (can add up recently visited athirapalli too). in my opinion, i felt the climate and the nature's beauty is far better in these places than ooty.

still, ooty is said to be the tourist haunted place and it stands second in the country.

guess why?

ooty is counted as second in india with the maximum facilities available.

when app say that "There are any number of examples abroad where nature is enjoyed by crowds of visitors without wreaking too much havoc to the environment" i hope he is talking about the people who really want to explore places and appreciate the facilities whatever available.

here, i know how people go to ooty. they would always go in a car with the AC fully turned on, have chillllllled bear there, expect all variety of food, mattai aagi thoongiduvaanga.... and they never accept a room with less than 3 star category.

but for these facilities other better places are denied by most of the tourists. so to attract these kind of tourists, lot of buildings are constructed in huge areas destroying the beauty of ooty.

of course, government restricts approval for building in the mountain. but due to huge demand by the public the builders never wait for approvals. for example in ooty no buildings are allowed to build to the height more than 100 feet but we can see lot of buildings constructed more than that height.

obviously we should compare other hill stations like valparai, munnar, chalakkudi where no complaints on landsliding (rain is comparatively more in these areas) though lot of tea, coffee and rubber estates are grown. but construction are very much restricted.

:)

[suba]

:)

ooobbbss.... i was wrong when i said that 100 feet was the approved height for constructions in ooty.

it should have been 25 feet.

:)