COIMBATORE: Staff of Boluvampatti forest range were forced to use an emergency siren to remove the crowd that had gathered to bathe, at the Kovai Courtallam near Siruvani, as part of precautionary measures, on Sunday.
Despite repeated reminders by tribals engaged on duty to monitor visitors, the crowd refused to come out of the waterfall. Staff had to evacuate the crowd before 5 pm to prevent any possible human-wildlife conflict.
The forest department had set up a siren to alert tourists during emergencies. "We were left with no choice other than using the siren to make people step out of the bathing area since it was time to close.
Unlike Saturdays, more people from across the state had visited the waterfall on Sunday," the forest department official said. A total of 2,647 adults and 573 children visited Kovai Courtallam on Saturday and the number went up to 3,881 for adults and 828 children on Sunday.