As Dindigul district administration begins work on issuing e-pass for vehicles entering Kodaikanal, activists in the hill station are upbeat about the steps being taken following the recent Madras High Court order to save the fragile biosphere.
As per the details given by the Kodaikanal Municipality on April 19, the day of voting, 2,091 vehicles entered the town. On April 20, the numbers went up to 2,377 and on April 21 it came down to 1,610. The past weekend after the court order was issued, the number of vehicles has visibly reduced, says P. Sathiyanathan, Kodaikanal Municipal Commissioner.
He hopes that the e-pass would enable the municipality to know in advance the type of vehicle that would be entering the hills, the number of people in the vehicle and the place where they would be staying and also the number of days they would be in the hill station. “These details are necessary as it would help in traffic management and also waste management.”
With the hill station facing high temperatures and forest fires, residents fear a looming water crisis. They hope that the e-pass would help conserve water. “We are not getting regular water supply and by the way the temperature is rising we may see massive water scarcity in the hills,” says a resident from Naidupuram. “Sometimes at nights, small-time hoteliers even pump water from the lake,” he alleged.
Drinking water for Kodaikanal is sourced from Observatory reservoir, Manoranjitham drinking water dam and from a check dam on Keelkundar river. An official admits that the hill station may face drinking water shortage and in order to prevent this, supply is being maintained on alternate days.
“The e-pass restriction would help us provide water for the residents in a phased manner. E-pass would also help the municipality ration the water supply for the hotels and restaurants thus conserving the available water,” he said.
Activist Veerabadhran points out that e-pass is a must to check the carrying capacity of the road up the hill. It will help the policy makers plan additional infrastructure for the hill station.
An additional road up the hill to ease traffic and permits should be given for hotels and restaurants only if they have parking facilities. On the other hand, traders, shopkeepers and resort owners have decried the move saying that it would affect their livelihood.
Ajayan, a resort owner, says that as soon as the High Court order was announced bookings in many hotels dropped. He feels that the e-pass should be made applicable only on weekends. Ranjit who runs a wayside hotel on the Lake road says that it’s only during the tourist season that he makes money and an e-pass would hit his earnings.
But in order to preserve the environment and to provide a tourists a wholesome package that should not be marred by traffic snarls, lack of adequate water and sanitation facilities then an e-pass should become mandatory, say activists.
