Valparai to be made 'seventh heaven'
Valparai, a hill station in Coimbatore district abundant with rich flora and fauna, will be promoted as the 'seventh heaven' for tourists and adventure lovers. As part of the promotion drive, a three-day summer festival would be held at Valparai, about 70 km from Coimbatore, from May 19, Neeraj Mittal, district collector, said. Exclusive sessions for children, food festivals and cricket and foot-ball matches, one exclusively for women, would form part of the event, he said.Flower show, folk and tribal dances and musical nights will be added attractions of this festival, which was being revived after a gap of four years, he said. The tourists have a lot of interesting picnic spots like Monkey Falls, Azhiyar Dam, Balaji temple, Sholayar, upper and lower Neerar and Tiger Valley, be-sides several tea estates. They could purchase good quality local tea and coffee and the unique wood furniture of the area, Mittal said. The administration is taking extra efforts to give a facelift to the area, including providing good approach roads on hilly tracts, sub-collector Vijay Pingley said. To start with, the administration is constructing a 50-room tourist home, the foundation stone for which would be laid during the festival, Pingley said.
