TIRUPATHUR: The Yelagiri Summer Festival, organised jointly by the district administration and the Tourism Department, was inaugurated by the Minister for Forests, RV Ranjithkumar, on Saturday.

The minister also inaugurated and visited exhibition stalls set up by various departments, including Agriculture, Engineering, Horticulture, Tourism, Forest, Women's Self-Help Groups, Sericulture and the District Industries Centre. He said Yelagiri, popularly known as the "Ooty of the poor", would be developed further as a tourist destination. He assured that adequate funds would be secured for the development of tourism infrastructure and that the government was committed to improving tourist destinations.