Madras High Court Asks Govt To Make E-Pass Mandatory For Vehicles Entering Nilgiris And Kodaikanal In May-June

The specially constituted forest bench of Justice N Satish Kumar and Justice Bharatha Chakravarthy made the directions while hearing matters related to the protection of forests in an attempt to facilitate the collection of data regarding the influx of tourists during summertime. The bench, however, made it clear that there shall be no limit to the number of E-passes issued and added that the local residents will be exempted from the system.

The bench directed the District Collectors of Nilgiris and Dindigul to implement the system from May 7 to June 30 and to widely publicize the system across the country to create awareness among tourists.

The court added that the system would be similar to the e-pass system issued during the COVID-19 lockdown period and suggested a payment gateway to ease online payments thereby reducing the congestion at check posts.

The Advocate General also informed the court that a multi-sectoral approach was essential for conducting a thorough study in respect of the carrying capacity in the hill stations of Nilgiris and Kodaikanal. For this, the AG informed that IIT Madras and IIM Bangalore were approached to take up the carrying capacity study in the hill stations.

The AG further informed the court that the data available with the District Administration will be used for assessment of footfall of tourists per day during peak and non-peak seasons, assessing the number of all types of vehicles entering the district administration during peak and non-peak seasons, available accommodation facilities that have legal permits together with parking space, assessing water availability in the District and see is they are available for the tourists after accounting for local use and preservation, waste collection and management, availability of treatment facilities, determining protected areas and carrying separate study, listing out popular tourist destinations and carrying individual study of the location.

Noting that some regulatory measures had to be put in place for pollution control and reduction of emission of carbon monoxide to the maximum extent possible in the hill stations, the court suggested the introduction of the e-pass system to minimize the number of vehicles entering the hill stations by regulating traffic during peak season.

Case Title: G Subramania Koushik v The Principal Secretary and Others

Case No: WP No. 15120 of 2019