Clean Ooty campaign begins

Udhagamandalam: “This place is ours, let us keep it clean.” To drive home this message among various sections of the society in this hill station, residents of the Melkawhatty village set in motion a cleaning campaign near the Government Headquarters Hospital here on Wednesday.

It involved the removal of wild growth and litter which have over the years become ideal breeding grounds for mosquitoes.

The effort was also carried out in order to create areas suitable for forming gardens and greening the environment.

Pointing out that the volunteers belonged to an outfit called ‘Mannuga Matha’ in Badaga meaning ‘Decorating the Earth’, which came into being about four months ago, its president N.Nataraj, a retired teacher told The Hindu that their mission is to enhance awareness about the environment.

D.Radhakrishnan – From THE HINDU

Ooty: Rain fails to deter tourists

Udhagamandalam: Though a couple of weeks have passed since the curtain came down on the season in this holiday destination, the flow of tourists continues to be good.

The demand for seats on the Nilgiri Mountain Railway was good.

Stating that despite the rain 6,000 tourists visited the Government Botanical Garden on Saturday, the Assistant Director of Horticulture said that the number of tourists entering the garden ranged between 6,000 and 8,000 during weekends.

From THE HINDU

Military band espouses cause of environment Military band espouses cause of environment

Stress on need to address environment related problems without delay

Udhagamandalam: The cause of environment received a shot in the arm on Saturday with the famed band of the Wellington-based Madras Regimental Centre (MRC) joining hands with the Nilgiris Cultural Association (NCA) to commemorate the World Environment Day with a sterling performance at the Saint Joseph’s Boys All India Higher Secondary School in Coonoor.

A treat:The band of the Madras Regimental Centre performing in Coonoor on Saturday. D.Radhakrishnan

With the programme being appropriately titled ‘Enviro Culture’, not only did it underscore the need to address environment related problems without delay but also highlighted the contribution of the defence establishments in Wellington towards enriching the cosmopolitan culture of the Nilgiris.

Right from the curtain raiser ‘Vayu Shakthi’, which was a marching number, the hour-long performance of the band drew loud cheers from the hundreds of persons, who had made a bee line to the venue despite torrential rain.

About a dozen numbers followed.

Tunes with a Carnatic touch thrilled audience.

While ‘Light Cavalry’ and ‘Kadam Kadam Badaye Ja’ introduced by Netaji Subash Chandra Bose to inspire patriotism brought out the best in the band, ‘Rivers of Babylon’ and ‘Spanish Gypsy Dance’ made many tap their feet. Hindi numbers reflecting love of nature were received well.

When the troupe ended with ‘Sare Jahanse Achcha’ the audience gave a prolonged standing ovation.

Since the reputation of the band preceded the performance foreign students studying in some of the residential schools were among the audience.

The band which has won many accolades comprised members from Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, Goa, Lakshwadeep, Andaman and Nicobar.

Addressing the gathering, Chief Guest M.V.Ragunathan, Past Governor, Lions District 324 A1, urged the youth to learn from such presentations and vow to protect the environment.

NCA president P.S.Sundar stressed the need to protect the environment.

Principal of Saint Joseph’s Boys All India Higher Secondary School Babu Varghese also spoke.

From THE HINDU

Promoting conservation

Udhagamandalam: The renowned band of the Madras Regimental Centre (MRC) at Wellington near here is all set to espouse the cause of the environment.

It will present a band concert at a programme titled “Enviro Culture” which will be staged by the Nilgiri Cultural Association (NCA) at the Saint Joseph’s Boys All India Higher Secondary School in Coonoor on Saturday evening to mark the World Environment Day.

The Convener, NCA, S. Ananthakrishnan said that since it was formed in 1951 the band has been part of several prestigious occasions and won several accolades. The Band members are drawn from Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Lakshadweep and Andaman and Nicobar.

From THE HINDU

Boat race entertains tourists visiting Ooty

Programmes should reflect culture and lifestyle, say tourists

Udhagamandalam: The scene of action at the annual Summer Festival which is now in progress in this tourist resort shifted to the Ooty lake.

With a large number of tourists making a bee line to the venue at the far end of the town, the annual boat race was conducted in an interesting manner by the Nilgiris district administration, the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation and the Department of Tourism.

The race was flagged off by the Nilgiris Collector Archana Patnaik.

The District Revenue Officer S.Kuppusamy distributed the prizes.

Many of the tourists interviewed by The Hindu said that more such “lively” programmes should be organized to entertain the tourists.

They were in tune with the ethos of the hill station.

Pointing out that they came to Udhagamandalam mainly to enjoy the weather and get away from the noise in the plains, they opined that programmes organized for the benefit of the visitors should reflect the culture and lifestyle of the natives.

A number of tourists participated enthusiastically in various categories of the event.

The winners:

Men’s Doubles: 1. Ganapathy and Saravana Prabhu (Trichy); 2. M.Pradeep Kannan and G.Nedumaran (Palani); 3. M.Kathiresan and M.Arun Prakash (Palani).

Women’s Doubles: 1. R.Divya and R.Suruthi (Bangalore); 2. Shivani and Shilpa (Mumbai); 3. Chithra and Sujatha (Chennai).

Couples: 1. Vinodhkumar and Sindhu (Chennai); 2. M.R.Mohan and Arulmani (Erode); 3. Gopalan and Geetha (Kochi).

From THE HINDU