Tourists choke Munnar after Ooty travel ban; biggest rush in 18 years, hill station in chaos

With the admiration of Nilgiris imposing a travel ban on hill station Ooty, the travellers have set their eyes on the ‘Pearl of Western Ghats’— Munnar. This has led to a chaotic situation in Munnar, with traffic snarls turning into the new best sight in all nooks and corners connecting the hill station. On Friday, an average tourist had to wait five hours to travel 13 km in the hairpin area. This is the biggest rush experienced in Munnar after the 2006 Neelakurinji season. With E-Pass turning mandatory in Ooty, most Malayali tourists have shifted their choice to Munnar, turning the idyllic place into a chaotic mess.

Most of the police officers under the subdivision have been deployed in and around Munnar for traffic control. However, their work proved to be of little help as the whole system has now been broken into pieces, with the officials failing to control the labyrinthine traffic issues. Women and children caught in the traffic had to spend hours without food or drinking water.

At the same time, most lodges and homestays in Munnar are choc full of people. New tourists visiting the hairpin after hours of traffic snarl end up dismayed at the unavailability of a proper staying facility. Despite the news and the chaos of traffic, Saturday morning also witnessed heavy tourists inflow into Munnar, which will surely aggravate the present concerns.