Ooty traffic came to a standstill in several stretches on Friday as tourists travelled to Ooty, Coonoor and Valparai at the start of an extended weekend, disrupting road movement and bus services in the Nilgiris and Coimbatore districts.
The road between the Aliyar checkpost and Valparai was lined with vehicles, with traffic movement stalled for hours because of the influx of tourists, according to a report by the Times of India. Similar congestion was reported on roads leading to destinations in the Nilgiris district.
The traffic restrictions also affected public transport. Buses were unable to operate on schedule, leaving passengers waiting for extended periods. At the Saibaba Colony bus stand in Coimbatore, people waited for hours on Friday afternoon to board buses to the Nilgiris.
Passengers said the transport corporations had not arranged adequate services despite the long weekend and the expected movement of people towards hill destinations and their hometowns. The report did not provide details of additional buses or traffic-management measures deployed by the transport authorities.
Samuel, a taxi driver from Mettupalayam, said he had dropped a family from Erode at Ooty and encountered heavy traffic on the route. He also said that tourists continued to visit popular locations, including Pykara Falls, even though the site had little water.
The rush was accompanied by a separate tourist-safety incident at Sims Park in Coonoor. Twenty-four tourists, including 10 children, were stung by bees and taken to a government hospital. The injured visitors were from Maharashtra, Chennai, Tirupur and Erode.
According to sources cited in the report, a beehive at the park was disturbed by an eagle, after which the bees attacked visitors. The report did not state the condition of those taken to hospital or whether the park was temporarily closed following the incident.
The congestion and disrupted bus operations occurred as visitors travelled simultaneously to multiple hill destinations across the region. The report did not specify how long the traffic blocks continued or announce any subsequent changes to bus operations. Further updates would depend on responses from the transport corporations and local authorities.
