At 200, queen of hills needs rejuventaion

On June 1, 1823, the first modern house in Ootacamund — Stonehouse — was completed, marking the beginning of the spread of British legacy that reshaped the pristine hillside, which till then was home to a few Toda hamlets. Today, after 200 years of name changes, population explosion and ecological degradation, Ooty is feeling the weight of being a hill station that hosts nearly three million tourists every year.
At the turn of another century, heritage enthusiasts, ecologists and old timers of the town want to ring in celebrations with a plan to restore the natural beauty of the hill station and restore its old-world charm.
The Nilgiris mountains came under British rule on July 22, 1799, after the second Mysore war in which Tipu Sultan was defeated in the battle of Srirangapatinam. It was, however, not until 20 years later that they explored the wilderness. After many attempts by various officials and surveyors, John Sullivan, collector of Coimbatore, visited the hills on January 7, 1819 and thus began the modern history of the Nilgiris. Sullivan saw the mountains as a health resort. “On his first expedition he camped near Kotagiri. Two years later he set his eyes on the magnificent valley of Ootacamund, the land that belonging to the Todas. He bought land from the Todas of ‘Hothege Mund’ (Mund is a habitat of Todas) and built the Stonehouse,” said Dharmalingam Venugopal, founder-director, Nilgiri Documentation Centre (NDC).
“We researched and presented documentary evidence to prove that the Nilgiris district indeed was constituted on August 18, 1868. And then Stonehouse, was completed on June 1, 1823. Thus, this date is considered the foundation of Ootacamund as the first hill station of the British Empire,” says Venugopal, founder-director, NDC. At present, Stonehouse serves as the government arts and science college.
During the nearly 150 years of British rule, several governors general, governors, viceroys, writers and explorers like Lord Macaulay and Sir Richard Burton visited Ooty. This hill station was the summer capital of Madras Presidency for 70 years. There were many changes with buildings of administrative offices, churches, hospitals, bungalows and employee quarters during the British era. The original grasslands were replaced with exotic trees such as wattle and eucalyptus. Meanwhile, the number of Toda tribal hamlets also grew. By 1848, there were 430 Europeans and about 8,000 natives. On its centenary in 1923, Ooty, as it came to be called, had become a boom- ing electrified town of more than 18,000 and the summer capital of the mighty Madras Presidency.
Over the years, development and commercialisation of the hill station took over. “It used to be a green paradise some 70 years ago, but it became a concrete jungle post Independence,” said Y B Raman, a long-time resident.
With the milling crowd came issues of man-animal conflict in the Nilgiris and rampant construction led to landslides over the years. The growing Theetukal dump yard is a grim reminder of the need for better garbage management. While master plans for Ooty and Kodaikanal were introduced in 1993 with a view to rein in haphazard development, it’s about time we had a review, say ecologists.
According to NDC, Ooty’s 150th year in 1973 went unnoticed because the town was facing multiple problems of population explosion, tourist influx and indiscriminate commercialisation. “Today too Ooty has several issues in terms of civic and tourist infrastructure, town planning and aesthetics. But the occasion is also a good time to begin planning and strategising to deal with these issues,” says Venugopal. The question is, he said, “Do we see Ooty as a problem as the earlier British officers did or an opportunity as Sullivan perceived it?”
Tamil Nadu government has sanctioned ₹10 crore for ‘Ooty-200’ celebrations. At a recent meeting government officials said Ooty is a land of opportunities for huge investments in communication and connectivity, tourism, education, small industry and organic farming.
Geetha Srinivasan, patron, Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (Intach), Nilgiris chapter, says, “The best tribute for Ooty town during the 200th year celebration would be preserving the environment of the hills. ”