Udhagamandalam: With the Nilgiris on the threshold of its annual Autumn season,it is up to the government to take a call on how to regulate tourism in the district,said the Nilgiris Collector Ms.J.Innocent Divya here on Thursday. Speaking to presspersons on the sidelines of a programme organised to kick-off an awareness campaign on the Corona virus,by the Monitoring Officer for the Nilgiris

Ms.Supriya Sahu at Charing Cross,Ms.Divya said that during this part of the year normally a large number of tourists from various parts of the country,particularly Karnataka and Kerala visited the Nilgiris to enjoy the Autumn season.

However,this year owing to the pandemic,the government will decide whether to seal the borders or not.

The government has,as a special case, permitted the Nilgiris to issue manual passes.

However since the number of Coronavirus infections has gone up in the district ,the administration is keeping a watch over misuse of e-passes.

Adverting to the campaign,she said that,a mascot will be used in all public places to stress the importance of wearing masks properly and strictly adhering to social distancing norms.

Pointing out that there are already been 270 beds for treating Corona patients, she said that it has now been raised to 500 with the opening of more Covid care centres. Though the capacity was sufficient,the people should be careful and avoid unnecessary gatherings.

The Chief secretary has considered favourably a request of the district administration to reserve beds for patients from the Nilgiris in the ESI hospital in Coimbatore.