Post trifurcation, Vellore loses heritage sites to new districts

With most monuments in erstwhile Vellore district now becoming a part of the Ranipet and Tirupattur districts, Vellore is left with only the historic fort and the sepoy mutiny commemoration pillar near the Makhan fish market on the old Bengaluru road.

It may be recalled that the trifurcation resulted in the district also losing out on its industries with leather units going to Tirupattur while BEHL, SIDCO and SIPCOT industrial estates became a part of Ranipet district. Vellore’s only industry is the Ammundi based cooperative sugar mill.

Talking to DT Next, philatelist and numismatist Tamilvannan, said, “Though there is a tourism department in Vellore, no action has been taken till now to locate the hidden and unknown monuments and sculptures which can put the city on the tourism map.”

Tamilvanan’s grievance is that while the heritage walks conducted by him in and around Vellore for school and college students, public and CMC doctors have drawn more than 2,000 till date, no strategy has been thought by the State and central agencies to boost local tourism.

The Jain beds at Latheri, 15 kilometres from Vellore and a hidden hill based architecture at Velapadi, in the heart of the town are two more tourist attractions that can be used for trekking and heritage walks.

Local resident Kumaravel who concurs with Tamilvanan added, “The advantage of Vellore is that all tourist attractions in the town can be covered in a day as they are close to each other. But for this to happen, it requires action from the officials concerned to do the needful.”

“Though there is a tourism department official in Vellore, his answer to all our suggestions to boost tourism is that, he will to get clearance from Chennai,” Tamilvanan added.

Though the Vellore fort is being spruced up at an estimated Rs 33 crore under the Vellore Smart City Project, “It remains to be seen how many will come just to visit the fort, when there are no nearby additional attractions,” Kumaravel added.