CHENNAI: In a bid to preserve the hill station, the Madras High Court has capped the number of vehicles that can enter Valparai in Coimbatore district.
A special bench of justices N Sathish Kumar and D Bharatha Chakravarthy passed the orders recently fixing the upper limit of 500 vehicles during weekdays and 750 on weekends and holidays.
E-pass system has already been in place for entry into Valparai as per the earlier directions of the court. The bench said after the implementation of the e-pass system, from November 1, 2025, to February 25, 2026, as many as 93, 836 applications for e-passes were received. However, only 59,712 vehicles entered through the check posts, it said.
The court said on an average, on a weekday, 323 vehicles visit the town. Similarly, during holidays and weekends, the average is calculated as 915 per day. It can be seen that the days on which the vehicle movement is extraordinary, there is absolute traffic jam and vehicles have halted for hours together, it said.
Pointing out the approximate staying capacity as on date is 1,160 rooms in 145 commercial establishments, the bench said the figures reflected a higher rate even though the veracity of the numbers has to be ascertained.