Monuments shut in Tamil Nadu, no getaways today

CHENNAI: City residents planning a drive along ECR, OMR or GST Road to explore places of attraction on Sunday may have to put it off as the Chengalpet district administration has decided to ban the entry of tourists to these spots on August 15.
It is for the first time that the tourist attractions in the suburbs are being shut down after the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic when most of the facilities and tourist attractions remained out of bound for the public.

Chengalpet collector A R Rahul Nadh said in a press release that entry will not be allowed for monuments in the coastal town of Mamallapuram as well as Kovalam beach, Mayajaal in Kanathur, Kandaswamy temple at Thiruporur on OMR and various temples on GST Road including Adhiparasakthi temple at Melmaruvathur and Vedanthangal bird sanctuary in the district for public on the day. The arrangement is an attempt to check the spread of Covid-19 cases, he added.
The development comes in the wake of the district authorities contemplating the option of banning entry for tourists or reducing the visiting hours for attractions on ECR and Mamallapuram, after tourists thronged the attractions dotted across the entertainment corridor of the city during the weekend. Particularly, the footfalls for the monumenta maintained by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had seen a spike since a fortnight ago. But, there was a significant drop in their numbers last week.
R Stalin, a tourist guide based in Mamallapuram, said that the number of people visiting Mamallapuram had dipped by at least 50% during the past weekend. “This has further reduced on Saturday and there are absolutely no tourist vehicles from other states. Most of the travellers on Saturday were from neighbouring districts,” he said.
Official sources said that revenue inspectors would coordinate with officials of other departments regarding the order pertaining to closure of tourist spots.