relax-traffic-regulations-for-plantation-crops-show-in-the-nilgiris

The Neelakurinji Integrated Farmer Producer Company, known as NIFCO, just shot off a letter to the Nilgiris district collector begging for a break on the traffic rules come the district’s first-ever Plantation Crops Show happening at Kattery Park near Coonoor. This event is scheduled to run from May 30 to June 1. Hubbathalai N. Sivan, the big boss at NIFCO, made sure to point out in his letter to the Collector and the Department of Horticulture and Plantation Crops that this show is a golden chance for both small plantation farmers and the big shot estates to flaunt their goods – think tea, coffee, spices, and more – at the show’s stalls. The goal? To snag a piece of the market pie and get their products seen by folks from all over, including domestic tourists, international visitors, and even the business crowd.

But hold up! Small farmers are starting to sweat bullets because of the traffic hoops they need to jump through just to get to the event. You see, the Mettupalayam-Coonoor-Udhagamandalam road is basically a one-way street for vehicles creeping up the hills on weekends. Meanwhile, the traffic coming back down from Udhagamandalam gets rerouted via Kotagiri Road. With the Plantation Crops Show falling on a weekend, Mr. Sivan is worried that a ton of tourists might end up missing out on the fun because of these pesky traffic rules. That’s why he’s crossing his fingers for the highway to swing both ways – open to cars heading up and down – during the three-day event. Fingers crossed that the collector hears him out!