As the westerly wind has finally set in to herald the advent of the much-awaited season at Courtallam, which would attract several lakhs of tourists taking bath in the majestically flowing waterfalls round-the-clock, District Collector A.K. Kamal Kishore chaired a meeting to review the preparations being made in this tourist destination.

As the southwest monsoon begins in neighbouring Kerala on the other side of the Western Ghats in June every year, the district of Tenkasi on the eastern side of the mountains would start getting mild drizzle the last week of May after experiencing baking heat between March and mid-May. Since the westerly wind has started blowing gently across Tenkasi district and the temperature has dipped a bit to herald the onset of southwest monsoon in the first week of June, all waterfalls in Courtallam would start getting water to attract thousands of tourists everyday.

Hence, Mr. Kamal Kishore chaired a meeting on Wednesday.

After reviewing the progress of all development works in and around Courtallam, he exhorted the officials to complete the works before the first week of June. The changing rooms near Main Falls, Five Falls and Old Courtallam Waterfalls should be ready. The toilets should be clean and tidy with sufficient water supply and drinking water should be stored at regular intervals in the synthetic drinking water tanks kept at various points near the waterfalls, parks and other places.

Similarly, garbage bins should be kept in sufficient numbers near all waterfalls and also along the roads of Courtallam. Sanitary operations for removing the waste at prescribed interval should be ensured by the Courtallam town panchayat. The traders should not be allowed to dump their waste in Chittar and the officials should instruct them to handover the degradable and non-degradable waste separately to the sanitary workers during the cleaning operations in their areas.

“Since the use of use-and-throw plastic products has been banned in and around Courtallam, the officials concerned should look for these banned products. The Department of Food Safety, local bodies, Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board and the police should jointly organise surprise check,” Mr. Kamal Kishore said.

The Courtallam town panchayat should check the floodlights fitted in the high-mast and replace the defunct lights immediately and ensure proper functioning of the CCTV cameras fitted near the waterfalls and the control rooms.

The damaged roads in and around Courtallam should either be repaired or relaid by the local bodies concerned or the Department of Highways before the start of drizzle. The police should designate the parking areas and the roads leading these spots should be repaired.

The police outposts near each waterfalls should be renovated and kept ready to post the police personnel round-the-clock to ensure the safety of the visitors, especially the women and the children. Breathalysers should be deployed near the waterfalls to keep the drunkards away from the waterfalls so that they would not create trouble for others while bathing in the waterfalls, Mr. Kamal Kishore said.