E-Pass mandatory to enter Nilgiris, Kodaikanal from today; registrations open

Tourists entering the Nilgiris and Kodaikanal hill stations will be required to mandatorily obtain the e-pass from Tuesday, May 7, till June 30. They feel that the collation of data during the peak tourist season, from May 7 to June 30, will be the first step towards formulating a more sustainable tourism model. Ajay Ludra, a Nilgiris resident, said, “While the ‘purpose of visit’ column in the website asks users to choose between tourism, business, agriculture and others, it did not have a field for residents travelling in vehicles that are not owned by them.” “In such cases, a resident will have to register as a tourist and fictitiously fill out a date of exit,” said Mr. Ludra, and added that even local residents who have vehicles registered under TN-43, should not be exempt from registering while entering and exiting the hill station. Senior officials from the Nilgiris district administration said that they have been monitoring whether the website is functional since Monday morning and said that no issues have been reported so far, by any users about an inability to procure an e-pass.