DINDIGUL: A day after being reopened, the parks in Kodaikanal hill station were temporarily closed on Tuesday evening. The Kodaikanal authorities took this decision after finding out that Covid-19 protocols were not followed by the visitors.
The authorities, Deputy Director of Horticulture, Kodaikanal, K Srinivasan, RDO Murugesan and Tahsildar B Chandran among others, conducted a surprise inspection at the Bryant Park, Rose Garden, Chettiar Park and other parks in the hill station which were reopened on Monday following lockdown relaxations.
Tahsildar Chandran told TNIE that since the parks in other hill stations like Ooty and Yercaud were not opened yet, people were thronging the Kodaikanal parks leading to overcrowding. "Social distancing was not followed by the majority of the visitors. Most of them wear masks at the entry point but later remove them to take pictures or selfies. Also, the footfall recorded in the parks on Monday was 617 and we fear it might increase during weekends," he said.
To avoid spike in Covid-19 spread, the authorities decided to keep the Kodaikanal parks closed temporarily till those in Ooty and Yercaud are opened for the public, he added.