Loc­als freeze, but tour­ists flock to sub-zero Nil­giris

NILGIRIS: Sub-zero tem­per­at­ures touch­ing minus 2 degrees Celsius in parts of the Nil­giris have led to frost form­a­tion across grass­lands and vehicles, caus­ing hard­ships for local res­id­ents even as the weather phe­nomenon has drawn large num­bers of tour­ists to Ooty and sur­round­ing areas.

Offi­cials said tem­per­at­ures dipped to minus 2 degrees Celsius in Thalaikundha and minus 1 degree Celsius at the Ooty Botan­ical Garden in recent days, res­ult­ing in wide­spread frost. Night tem­per­at­ures have hovered around 0 degrees Celsius for over 10 days, cre­at­ing pro­longed freez­ing con­di­tions in the dis­trict.

While res­id­ents are strug­gling to cope with the intense cold, tour­ists from the plains and neigh­bour­ing states have been arriv­ing in large num­bers to exper­i­ence sub-zero tem­per­at­ures. The influx has led to traffic con­ges­tion on major roads, with vehicles mov­ing at a slow pace in sev­eral stretches.

The Regional Met­eor­o­lo­gical Centre has fore­cast con­tin­ued frost con­di­tions in the Nil­giris dur­ing the sea­son, which typ­ic­ally spans Novem­ber to Janu­ary.

Offi­cials said cli­mate vari­ab­il­ity has caused fluc­tu­ations in rain­fall and frost pat­terns in recent years, but freez­ing con­di­tions have intens­i­fied this sea­son.

Forest offi­cials and police said tour­ism has been fuelled by videos on social media, includ­ing drone foot­age pos­ted by con­tent cre­at­ors from Tamil Nadu, Ker­ala and Karnataka from DR Bazaar on the Ooty-Thalaikundha-Gud­alur road.

Fol­low­ing incid­ents of tour­ists enter­ing pro­tec­ted forest areas, author­it­ies imposed restric­tions on forest entry and banned access to Thalaikundha and DR Bazaar dam areas in the interest of safety. Tour­ists have been per­mit­ted to view frost only from road­side loc­a­tions, offi­cials said, adding that traffic dis­rup­tions have occurred as vis­it­ors stop to take pho­to­graphs.