Southern States - Tamil Nadu   

Scheme to clean up Ooty lake launched

By D. Radhakrishnan

Udhagamandalam Oct. 20. A major scheme estimated at a cost of Rs. 1.74 crores to clean the Ooty lake was inaugurated by the Tourism Minister, A. Miller, here today.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Miller hoped that the ``revival and bio-medical treatment of the Ooty Lake'' would provide a lasting solution to the weed problem.

``Though huge sums were spent over the years to improve the condition of the lake, desired results have not been achieved.''

It was claimed that only treated effluents entered the lake, but on the contrary, proliferation of weeds was hastened by mingling of sewage with lake water, Mr. Miller said.

Twentyfive pedal boats purchased at a cost of Rs. 6.5 lakhs would be introduced in the lake shortly, the Minister said. The Nilgiris Collector Supriya Sahu, said for long cleaning of the lake had been, ``an unfinished agenda'' for the district administration and the project undertaken now would be completed within 14 months and a Mumbai-based agency would maintain it for three years. Disclosing that a district-level tourism policy was under preparation, the Collector said under the Hill Area Development Programme, Rs. 10 lakhs had been earmarked for bringing out a CD-ROM on the district. Stating that the annual revenue from the Ooty lake was Rs. 2.5 crores and the Government Botanical Gardens was Rs.1.2 crores, she said the Government had been approached to plough back 20 to 40 percent of the earnings for maintenance of the two tourist spots.

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