Fix a cap on tourist vehicles at Nilgiris, Kodaikanal: HC to TN
The HC recommended a maximum of 10,000 tourist vehicles per day could be permitted to the hill stations between April and June.
Chennai The Madras high court on Tuesday suggested the possibility of fixing a cap on the number of tourist vehicles that could be permitted to hill stations such as the Nilgiris and Kodaikanal during the summer months.
Expressing concern over environmental degradation due to unchecked tourist activities, a special division bench comprising justices N Sathish Kumar and D Bharatha Chakravarthy recommended a maximum of 10,000 tourist vehicles per day could be permitted to the hill stations between April and June but decided to take a final call after hearing advocate general PS Raman on March 13.
The judges said that private cars and two-wheelers can be restricted beyond a designated point in both the hill stations, from where tourists will be required to board government electric buses with glass tops, which would allow them to enjoy the scenic beauty.
This step would prevent the unpleasant experience of the ghat roads getting choked with motor vehicles that move at a snail’s pace during the peak tourist season and also considerably reduce the number of road accidents, the judges said.
Amici curiae Chevanan Mohan and Rahul Balaji stressed the necessity for the state government to come up with innovative ideas till the expert teams from IIT-Madras and IIM- Bangalore submit their study reports on fixing the carrying capacity of the ghat roads.
Mohan informed the high court that in 2024, the division bench had made it mandatory to obtain e-passes to visit the hill stations and emphasised that it was necessary to implement regulations to prevent the hills stations from uncontrolled tourist movement.
Justices Kumar and Chakravarthy told special government pleader T Seenivasan that they had interacted with shopkeepers in the Nilgiris and Kodaikanal and found that the local economy was not getting benefited out of uncontrolled crowd.
Sreenivasan said the data collected through automatic number plate recognition cameras showed that 3,000 to 4,000 vehicles entered the Nilgiris on weekdays and this number rose to 8,000 on weekends in February 2025.
He said the state government was committed to ensuring quality tourism without affecting any stakeholders and sought time for the appearance of the advocate general before the court could take a decision on fixing a cap.
The court postponed the matter till March 13.
