Hours-long traffic hold-ups continue to cause concern at Munnar hill station

Munnar witnesses traffic blocks that lasted three to four hours during Deepavali holidays

Repeated traffic hold-ups are continuing to cause concerns at Munnar hill station. The hill station witnessed hours-long traffic blocks during the Deepavali holidays, in which vehicles were stuck for three to four hours on major roads to Munnar.

Old Munnar Road, Ekka Nagar, Munnar-Mattuppetty Road, Munnar-Rajamala route, and Munnar-Anachal route saw long queues of vehicles fromOctober 31 to November 3.

G. Sojan, coordinator of My Munnar Movement, an initiative to encourage tourism activities in the hill station, criticised various government departments for their failure in establishing a proper system to manage the rush in Munnar during the Deepavali holidays. “The authorities are aware that a large number of tourists will visit the hill station during the holidays. However, they failed to arrange a proper system to overcome the heavy tourist rush, resulting in traffic jams that lasted several hours. The same is seen in Munnar during other holidays and weekends,” he said.

A tourism stakeholder said tourists are reluctant to visit the hill station during holidays due to repeated traffic blocks. This might affect the popularity of Munnar as a tourism destination, said the stakeholder, adding that unauthorised parking and roadside shops are among the reasons behind the hours-long traffic blocks here.

Munnar panchayat secretary Udayakumar also points towards roadside shops as a cause for traffic blocks in the hill station. Meanwhile, demolition of roadside shops in Munnar is on hold after the protests by politicians and the Munnar panchayat committee. “An emergency meeting by the panchayat committee decided to put the eviction drive on hold. I have informed the District Collector about the issue. Further actions will be taken based on the directives of the district administration,” said Mr. Udayakumar.

Published - November 05, 2024 07:15 pm IST