KSRTC opens online ticket reservation counter

The online advance ticket reservation counter of the Karnataka State Transport Corporation (KSRTC) at the State Express Transport Corporation bus Stand at Gandhipuram in the city was inaugurated by Collector, P. Umanath on Monday.Passengers wanting to travel to various destinations in Karnataka could book their tickets 30 days in advance on-line, in all classes of service operated by KSRTC from Coimbatore to different destinations in Karnataka and also to various other places in Southern India, wherever KSRTC was operating its service. The counter would work on all the seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m.

According to R. Jayabalan, in-charge of KSRTC operations, the service provider was operating three different types of services i.e., Express, Rajahamsa (Ultra Deluxe) and Volvo and to the same destination via various routes.

From Coimbatore, there are seven Express and Rajahamsa services to Bangalore, six to Mysore, two services each to Mercara and K R Nagara besides one each to Mandya, Tumkur, Chikkamagalure, Hunsur, Gundalpet, Chitradurga, Gudulpet, Mangalore, Shimoga, Sringeri and Harihara.In addition, 14 services including Volvo and Rajahamsa are being operated to Bangalore via Salem and Hosur daily from 00.25 hours to 23.45 hours.

New locations on ghats for a trip !!

Ficus, wildlife and natural history tours, has scheduled four treks in South India. The trip to Point Calimere(January 7 to 10, 2010) will see participants go on a birding expedition to the globally recognised wetland (Ramsar site) during the peak wintering season of birds.

This is an ideal tour for bird-watchers keen on recording several sub-continental wetland rarities among the 250-plus species of birds recorded from the location. Sometimes, dolphins and the threatened dugongs, a large sea mammal, can be sighted. The trip costs Rs. 12, 500 (Ex-Chennai, per person), and the last date to sign-up is December 25.

Ghermalam (January 30 to February 2, 2010), located at the junction between the Eastern and Western Ghats, where the BR Hills and Nilgiris meet, is rich in peninsular wildlife, birds and scenery of the surrounding, forested hills.

The landscape is within an important migratory corridor for elephants, and is home to tigers and leopards. Birdlife is excellent. The trip costs Rs. 10,500 (ex-Coimbatore, per person).

Pampadum Shola National Park (February 5 to 8, 2010) is located in a landscape of ‘shola' and plantation forests in the junction between the Palani and Cardamom Hills. This trek is ideal for wildlife and bird enthusiasts, photographers, naturalists and adventurers. The group will explore a fine patch of ‘shola'in the Western Ghats of Kerala.The cost will be Rs. 12,500 (ex-Cochin, per person).

Gavi (February 19 to 22, 2010) is ideal for wildlife and bird enthusiasts, photographers, naturalists and adventurers. Gavi is located among moist tropical forests and grasslands, adjacent to the famous Periyar Tiger Reserve, in Kerala. You can sight the Asian elephant, tiger, leopard and gaur, besides the endangered lion-tailed macaque, brown palm civet, brown mongoose and Nilgiri marten. The trip costs Rs. 12,500 (ex-Chennai, per person)

For details, mail contact@ficuswildlife.net, visit www.ficuswildlife.net or call 99419-18519 or 93831-14321.

Aviation industry has grown up by 25 per cent

In spite of the recession, the aviation industry in the country has witnessed a 25 per cent growth and the number of aircraft has increased from 100 to 375, said M.R. Vasudeva, Airport Director.

He was speaking at an Aviation Conclave organised by the Nehru College of Aeronautics and Applied Sciences. Air travel was no longer unaffordable for the common man. Even if it is recession, there is crowd in the Airports and the Airlines.

There is a demand for manpower in the sector.Students should concentrate on improving English skills.The growth in the aviation industry has contributed to the growth of tourism and other associated sectors.Nearly 140 million passengers travel by air in India.

At the Coimbatore Airport, the air traffic has increased from 2 lakh passengers to 8 lakh passengers from 2005-2009.

It was necessary to have more airports, he said. Selvaraj, Station Manager, Air India, Alexander George, Sales Manager, SilkAir, spoke.Muthusamy, Director for MBA, Airline and Airport Management, welcomed the gathering.P. Krishna Kumar, Secretary of Nehru Group of Institutions, Wing Commander (Rtd) R.T. Ramanujam and MBA Faculty Ramdas spoke at the conclave.

Louis Cruises to launch service from Kochi

The demand for cruising is increasing by 12 per cent to 15 per cent annually in the country, according to Vijay Puthran, Country Head – Sales and Marketing of Louis Cruises.

Mr. Puthran, who was here on Tuesday, told during the last 10 years, about 10 million people in the country had gone cruising and the nearest destination they went to was Singapore. The demand was always on the rise. In India, “we sail from October to Mid-May since the monsoon will intensify after that,” he said. The Mediterranean-based Louis Cruises would operate short-duration cruises from Kochi. The company had decided to base the ship, MV Aquamarine, in the Kochi port as Kerala was known world-wide as a tourist destination. It received the maximum number of tourists in the country. Maldives and Colombo were easily accessible from the Kochi Port and the Indian Ocean did not have a cruise service, he said.

Hence, the company had entered into a five-year agreement with Kerala Tourism and appointed The Great India Tour Company as its passenger sales agent to promote its cruises. The ship would reach Kochi by December 1. Currently, the company offered three itineraries: Kochi-Maldives-Kochi, Kochi-Colombo-Kochi and one night cruise on the high seas. The demand was high for one-night cruises, especially in the weekends. The company targeted family travellers and corporate companies.

The company had launched bookings in Coimbatore too, he said.

Southern Railway to introduce several special trains

With passenger traffic showing tremendous growth, Southern Railway has decided to introduce a large number of special trains and alsoexpand its network by completing before March next year 132 km of doubling works, 333 km of gauge conversion and 20 km of new lines.

"We will be introducing 162 Sabari special trains to meet the festival rush to Sabarimala. It will mark an 18 % increase over last year's 138 special trains. A large number of special trains for Pongal and New Year have also been planned for high-demand routes such as Tuticorin, Nagercoil, Coimbatore and others," said Union minister of state for railways, E Ahmed, after releasing the new railway timetable as well as a new suburban timetable in the city on Friday.

The new timetable has timings for trains under the jurisdiction of Southern Railway, South Central Railway, South Western Railway and Konkan Railway.According to Ahmed, the number of special trains had shot up from 912 during 2008-09 (January-September) to 1,020 this year (for the same period), an increase of 12 %. "The earnings from specials have also gone up from Rs 22 crore to Rs 30 crore," he said.

Ahmed pointed ut that said that the special trains were being run despite an increase in the number of trains allotted in the budget for the zone over the years. "As against the nine new trains introduced last year, 11 new trains have been included in the budget for this year, one of the highest in recent years. The number of train extensions have gone up, from four trains last year to six in current year."

The new timetable states that 28 trains, including the Chennai Central-Erode Yercaud Express, Chennai Central-Mangalore Express, Chennai Central-Coimbatore Express and Chennai Central-Vascodagama Express, will be speeded up by 10 minutes to 90 minutes from Sunday. However, a couple of trains such as the Nellai Express, Kacheguda-Chennai Express, Ananthapuri Express, Nagercoil-Chennai Express and Kovai Express will arrive later based on new timings from Sunday.

"To manage the growing passenger demand, Southern Railway will carry out a massive expansion of the unreserved ticketing system this year. Around 449 unreserved ticket counters will be opened this year, as against 70 last year; 100 new counters have already opened."Ahmed also said that railways were taking "standard measures to ensure security of passengers and trains" in the wake of the Naxalite attack on the Rajdhani Express.

Tourism board to promote treccking !!

If you enjoy trecking through the grassy Top Slip and desolate rocky Tirusulam Hills, planning for it just got easier as Tamil Nadu Tourism Department (TTDC) is all set to promote trekking in a big way. The newly constituted eco-tourism wing of the department has decided to organise trekking expeditions in hilly terrain across the state.

In the first phase, three trekking expeditions are scheduled at Servarayan hills at Yercaud, Tirusulam Hills opposite the airport and Top Slip in Coimbatore on different dates from October last week to mid November. The trips to Yercaud and Top Slip will last for three days while trekking on Tirusulam Hills will be wound up in half a day.

The first trip to Servarayan hills near Yercaud is scheduled to kick-off on October 30 and end on November 1. The tour will cost Rs 2,000 per person including all expenses. "We have already received 14 bookings for this trekking expedition. Tourists will be taken to Yercaud by bus from TTDC head office at Wallajah Road," said an official of the department. Tirusulam trek is on November 7 while the three-day trekking trip to Top Slip is scheduled to start on November 13.

More such programmes are planned. "TN Tourism decided to have such programmes after we received feedback from people that they would love to go on trekking trips with us rather than with private guides. We received several letters from people asking us to start such programmes," the official said.Vidya Sagar, a businessman, said: "I have booked the trekking tour to Yercaud hills on October 30. As I am based in Salem I will be joining the team from Chennai at Yercaud. This is the first time I will be going on such an expedition. I am excited because the trip will help me visit areas were medicinal herbs grow in the hills."

This is the first time that TTDC will be conducting trekking expeditions in an organised way. Till now, tourism department's staff or approved guides used to guide trekking parties into the forest areas at Tirunelveli, Ooty, Yercaud and other places. But, "We decided to take bookings for trekking to promote adventure tourism and also let people experience lesser-known destinations," said a TTDC official.

"TTDC has been organising several tours. But, such conducted tours only help the tourists to see certain spots. They do not allow tourists to explore the area in a way a trekking programme can do," he added.

Drive against touts by Railways

During a drive against touts and unauthorised ticket brokers, the Southern Railway has arrested 21 brokers and recovered cash and tickets worth Rs. 24,000 from them.Southern Railway had ordered for vigil at all railway stations to prevent touts and brokers from selling tickets at premium rates.

Accordingly, a team of officials from the vigilance wing of the Southern Railway along with officials from Salem Division conducted a drive at Coimbatore Junction on Wednesday and arrested 21 brokers. All of them were handed over to Railway Protection Force who, in turn, remanded all of them to judicial custody. Vigil has been stepped in all ticket reservation counters in the region.

Is drinking water at Junction safe ??

Despite being the second largest revenue spinner next only to Chennai, passengers leaving and arriving Coimbatore Junction are provided only with bore well water drawn from Valankulam for drinking, as the Junction is yet to get Siruvani water supply.

The railway station fetches a daily revenue of Rs. 30 lakh and an annual revenue of Rs 110 crores through passenger and freight charges. Enquiries revealed that the Southern Railway approached the civic body one-and-a-half years back for a water supply connection, with a request that they need close to one lakh litres of water a day. Then, the civic body had asked the railway authorities to wait till the water scarcity gets over. Thereafter, efforts were never pursued for getting a connection. The railway authorities are at present sourcing water from a bore well sunk near Valankulam, a polluted water body.

The water drawn from Valankulam was supplied through 62 taps at the railway station. Earlier, there was a water pipeline at the Coimbatore Junction with a supply of 5,000 litres a day. Owing to lack of facilities to store water, the connection became useless. Medical and Sanitation wing officials at the Coimbatore Junction said that though the water is drawn from the bore well, adequate attention was being paid to treat the water and make it safer for the public use. But, the same was being disputed and challenged by activists who have subjected the water for laboratory examination. Considering the present storage level in Siruvani reservoir, Southern Railway authorities have renewed their efforts and are on the job of applying for a “bulk” water supply connection besides construction of tanks for storage.

Travel firm fined for negligence

The Coimbatore District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum (CDCRF) has fined Rs. Rs. 60,000 Thomas Cook India Limited for deficiency in service causing mental agony to a traveller and his family members. The company has been asked to pay Rs 1,000 too towards cost of litigation.Orders were issued by the Forum president, S.A. Sree Ramulu, and Member K. Rathinam.

European tour

Arunkumar Bhavani and five members of his family in his petition said that he had approached the firm to make travel arrangements for a tour of Europe and furnished the passports for all the six.The passports of two children, Saloni and Anmol, were carrying photographs taken when they were aged five and three.But the passports were valid till 2008. The travel firm stated that it was not a problem and promised to process the applications and arrange for visa.

Mr. Bhavani remitted Rs. 4,29,600 and the remaining was to be paid on May 30, 2007. With hardly five days left for the travel, the firm told the applicant that visa could not be processed for the two children.Mr. Bhavani told the firm that new passports could not be procured in five days time and it was difficult to reschedule the travel programme. The travel firm deducted Rs. 1,59,600 towards processing charges and refunded only the remaining amount. This was contested by the petitioner.

The petitioner contended that he had written to the travel firm stating that as he could not postpone the travel, he had expressed his willingness to travel next year and had asked the travel firm to retain few thousands of rupees as advance money and refund the remaining balance rather than deducting the processing charges and refunding the money to him.For which, there was no response from the travel firm, the petitioner said.

The firm contended that they only process the visa applications and never offer any consultation or help in obtaining the visa.The decision to grant visa or deny was a prerogative of the consulate concerned and stated that there was no deficiency in service on the part of the travel firm.

Concession

As against the normal processing charge of Rs. 55,000 a passenger for cancellation of trips within a short time span before the commencement of the journey, the travel firm said that only Rs, 26,000 was deducted a passenger.The forum concluded that failure to respond to the letter from the petitioner was also a deficiency in service and non-application of mind about the mismatch of the photographs in the passport despite being pointed out by the applicant was again carelessness amounting to deficiency in service.

The forum directed the travel firm to refund Rs. 1,59,000 deducted from the applicant along with 12 per cent interest from the date of filing of the petition – December 18, 2007 – till the date of settlement, Rs. 60,000 towards mental agony caused to the consumer and Rs. 1,000 towards the cost of litigation.

Two months

The settlement has to be effected within two months failing which the petitioner was at liberty to execute the orders under section 25 and 27 of the Consumer Protection Act, the order said.

Eco-tourism initiatives being pursued in ooty

In line with the recommendations of the Forest Commission led by retired IAS officer, P.V. Rajaraman, the State Government is embarking on an ambitious programme to renew the forest cover in the State, said N. Selvaraj, Minister for Forests on Thursday.The Minister, accompanied by the Conservator of Forests, Coimbatore Circle, R. Kannan and District Forest Officer, I. Anwardeen, visited Devayampalayam and Pudhupudur at Periyanaickenpalayam area to review the ongoing scheme Tree Cultivation in Private Lands (TCPL). The project is aimed at increasing the planting of saplings outside the forests to achieve 33 per cent green cover.

Talking to reporters after visiting the project sites, Mr. Selvaraj said that the Rajaraman Commission had submitted its report on September 21, 2009 in which it had quoted the Forest Survey report of 2005 and had pointed out that 12,30,000 hectares of forest in Tamil Nadu stand degraded due to many reasons including felling of trees.Under the first phase of afforestation drive, the Government had planted saplings in 6,50,000 hectares for reviving the degraded forests. A blanket ban had been imposed on cutting of trees inside the forest areas. Even transportation of wooden logs from the State to other States (irrespective of whether the trees were fell inside the forests or outsides the forests) had been banned. Measures were being taken to protect the existing trees and to renew the degraded forests besides enhancing the green cover.

Mr. Selvaraj said that 3,70,000 saplings were being raised at nurseries in Coimbatore for planting them in Coimbatore and the Nilgiris districts and these saplings would be used for planting in lands outside the forests as well. Teak and ‘vembu’ saplings were being given to the farmers for growing trees outside the forests.Later, the Minister visited the eco-tourism works implemented by the Forest Department at Chadivayal, near Kovai Coutrallam.

Mr. Selvaraj said that four rest houses had been constructed for the tourists at an outlay of Rs. 63 lakh and a tree top rest house had been constructed for the nature lovers.In addition, elevated canopy walkway, watch towers, dining place, resting places have been created for the benefit of tourists. This would also help the tribals in their economic emancipation.

Mr. Selvaraj said that such eco-tourism initiatives are being pursued in Udhagamandalam, Mudumalai, Top Slip near Pollachi. With regard to man – animal conflict i.e., straying of wild elephants, the Minister said that besides erecting solar electric fencing even elephant proof trenches were being dug up.Farmers were being sensitised to change their cropping pattern by avoiding crops such as plantain, maize and sugarcane. Consistent efforts were being taken to improve the habitats in terms of water and fodder availability to prevent straying or migration of elephants in search of food and water.

The Government with the help of the Centre had embarked on a programme to acquire patta lands along the fringe areas of the forest to connect the missing link in elephant migratory corridors. At five places, 400 acres had been identified for acquisition to link the migratory corridors and in the first phase the Government had allocated Rs. 2.65 crore for acquisition 62.5 acres. Such measures would mitigate the man-animal conflicts, he said.

Re-routing of trains today

In order to facilitate limited use sub-way work between Kalligudi and Virudhunagar on September 20, certain changes are made in the movement of trains.

Train Number 788 Sengottai-Madurai passenger will be rescheduled to leave Sengottai at 13.45 hours instead of 12 hours on Sunday. Similarly, Train Number 384 Coimbatore – Nagercoil passenger will be rescheduled to leave Coimbatore at 8.30 hours instead of 7.10 hours.

Modernisation of non-metro airports in 2 yrs

Expansion and modernisation work on 35 non-metro airports in the country is on schedule and would be completed in two years,Civil Aviation Minister Praful Patel said here today.
"Everything is on schedule. Progress is there and we will complete it in two years," he told reporters at the airport here during his brief halt on his return from Tirunallar, famous for the Lord Saneeswaran temple.

The non-metro airports included two in Tamil Nadu- Madurai and Coimbatore, he said.Patel said the economic recession has resulted in a 30 per cent decline in passenger traffic, but in the last one or two months, "it is improving and returning to normal.

Sabari Inn will open by Jan2010

Leading hotel chains, Sabari Inn Pvt Ltd would add 700 more rooms to the existing 300, with new hotels coming at Bangalore,Coimbatore, Pune and Madurai in two years, a top company official said on Friday.

As the company has already acquired land in Bangalore and Coimbatore with 120 to 130 rooms each, construction of the hotel in this city would be completed by January 2010 and that of Bangalore by early 2011, Ramesh Shiva, CEO, Sabari Inn, told reporters here.An amount of Rs 50 crore each would be invested in developing the hotels in both cities, he said.

Similarly, the company has identified land in Pune and Madurai and modalities about the design, construction and also investment were being worked out, he said, plans are to comple construction by early 2012.
Sabari has already opened a 34-room resort in Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu, Ramesh said.Though the global recession has resulted in a 15 per cent drop in the arrival of tourists and customers in hotels it started picking up from the last four months, Ramesh said.

He said the Coimbatore unit would be ready to welcome the delegates of the proposed World Tamil Conference scheduled in January-February next year.Asked why the chain selected Tier II cities for expansion, he said demand for accommodation was more in these cities, where more of industrialisation was taking place and also because they are IT hubs.

Will Mysore Airport pose threat to CBE airport ?

The Mysore airport may be ready for operation next month. But it could be an airport without aircraft landing or taking off. The inauguration inched closer with the Airports Authority of India planning to ask the DGCA to send a team to inspect the site at Mandakalli. Tentatively, the DGCA could visit Mysore in the first week of September.

This comes amid CM B S Yeddyurappa’s Sept 15 deadline for the authorities to complete Phase I and operationalise the airport during Dasara festivities. But airlines are still far from sure of Mysore’s potential. So far, no airline has charted out any flight-path to Mysore.

“The market situation does not make it feasible for us to operate flights to destinations that we are unsure of,” said one airline official. Airline and government sources told TOI that the state government was approaching various airlines and pushing them to start flight operations to Mysore on the opening day. Sources said that the government wants airlines to operate a Bangalore-Mysore flight. Airlines, however, say that such a flight is not feasible. “It is pointless to have a flight from Mysore to Bangalore as the time of travel by air (including the landing and take-off time) will be less than 30 minutes,” said a senior official of a full service airline. It will also take at least one hour to get to the Bangalore airport from the city and passengers would have to arrive one hour before the departure.

But Capt G R Gopinath, seen as the father of low-cost aviation in India, differs. He says a Mysore-Bangalore flight will get enough traffic for an airline to break even. “The current traffic to Nanjangud, Madikeri and Ooty use the Coimbatore airport, which can be now serviced by the Mysore airport. Mysore gets a lot of traffic from Maharashtra and Gujarat.”

Special trains for Onam !

Southern Railway will operate special trains from Mangalore for Onam to cater to passenger rush on the Chennai and Tiruchchirappalliroutes. Train 0619 Chennai Central - Mangalore superfast special will leave Chennai Central on September 1 and 3, at 5 pm and arrive here at 9.10 am the next day. Train 0620 Mangalore - Chennai Central superfast special will leave Mangalore on September 2 and 4 at 4 pm and reach Chennai Central at 8 am the next day.

The trains will stop at Katpadi, Salem, Erode, Tiruppur, Podanur, Palakkad, Shoranur, Tirur, Kozhikode, Vadakara, Thalassery, Kannur, Payyanur, Kanhangad and Kasaragod. Train 0620 will stop at Perambur also. The composition of the trains will be one AC two-tier, one AC three-tier, 10-sleeper class, three general second class and two luggage-cum-brake van coaches.

Train 0655 Tiruchchirappalli - Mangalore Central special will leave Tiruchchirappalli at 9.45 pm on August 31 and September 2 and arrive at Mangalore Central at 11.30 am the next day. Train 0656 Mangalore Central - Tiruchchirappalli special will leave Mangalore Central at 2 pm on September 1 and 3 and arrive at Tiruchchirappalli at 5 am the next day.

The trains will stop at Karur, Erode, Tiruppur, Coimbatore, Palakkad, Shoranur, Kuttipuram, Tirur, Kozhikode, Quilandi, Vadakara, Mahe, Thalassery, Kannur, Payyanur, Charvattur, Kanhangad and Kasaragod. The composition of the trains will be one AC two-tier, two AC three-tier, 11-sleeper class, two general second class and two luggage-cum-brake van coaches.

Ex MP Prabhu's Request To Mamata Banerjee

Former MP R. Prabhu in a memorandum to Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee has urged her to expedite the promised extension of the Jodhpur-Bangalore bi-weekly train to Coimbatore. Mr. Prabhu pointed out that in the interim railway budget of 2009-2010, it was announced that conceding the demand of the North Indians residing in Coimbatore, train number 6507/6508 (Jodhpur-Bangalore) bi-weekly express train would be extended up to Coimbatore.

The train is scheduled to run on the Coimbatore – Jodhpur – Coimbatore sector via Ajmer. The train was expected to cater to the long-pending need of the North Indian population living in Coimbatore besides providing an additional connectivity to Bangalore. The North Indians living in Western Tamil Nadu were forced to travel either to Chennai or to Bangalore for their travel to North India. Despite the announcement in the interim budget, nothing had been done yet. He requested the Railway Minister to expedite the process.

KSRTC Bus To Sringeri

Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is starting a bus service on the Coimbatore – Sringeri – Coimbatore route with effect from August 9. A release from R. Jayabalan of KSRTC in-charge said that the bus would depart Coimbatore every day at 8 p.m. from the State Express Transport Corporation bus stand and would arrive Sringeri the next day at 9.30 a.m.

The bus will be operated via Sathyamangalam, Chamraj Nagar, Nanjangud, Mysore, Hassan, Bellur, Chekkmagalur. In the return direction, it would depart from Sringeri at 5 p.m. and arrive Coimbatore the next day at 6.30 a.m., the press release from the KSRTC said.

Eco-tourism initiatives at Kovai Coutrallam nearing completion

A good news for entertainment-starved Coimbatoreans. Thanks to the eco-tourism initiatives of the Forest Department, Kovai Coutrallam will soon become a sought-after picnic spot for people to escape from the concrete jungles.This is the first of its kind initiative to tap the immense tourism potential lying untapped in the scenic sketch of the western ghats abutting Coimbatore. Last year, the Conservator of Forests, Coimbatore Circle, R. Kannan, and District Forest Officer I. Anwardeen mooted a proposal for bringing in tourist-friendly facilities at Kovai Coutrallam. The plan implementation began last year and the works are nearing completion.

The authorities propose to the throw the facilities open in the next few months after the finishing touches are over. Works are in full swing under the supervision of Range Officer, Pooluvampatti, G. Rajeshwaran.The outlay for the initiatives is close to Rs. 79.35 lakh over a period of two years. The objective is to tap the tourism potential but at the same time ensure guided, restricted and regulated tourism without causing even an iota of disturbance to the system.

The project envisages to ensure that the tourists had a feel of nature and the revenue generated therein goes to the kitty of the eco-tourism committees. These initiatives would help in employment generation and livelihood sustenance of the tribal communities.Tribals are being appointed as watchers and guides to carry the project forward in addition to appointing tribal women as watchers in the women bathing area at the falls and also for cleaning the area.

The eco-tourism initiatives included an interpretation hall at the Chadivayal check-post wherein there would be display of specimen or samples of flora and fauna present in the Siruvani hills. Tourists on arrival would go through the interpretation hall and learn about the flora and fauna with the help of explanations kept there. There will also be a wildlife film show.For those willing to spend more than a day, the Forest Department is also constructing four rest houses - two ordinary type rest houses and two tree-top rest houses for those wanting to have a feel of nature in its pristine glory.

Similarly, an elevated walkway is also coming for nearly 150 mts wherein adventure-seeking tourists could walk and have a feel of the canopy. Similarly, a ropeway for the adventure-loving tourists is also coming up for providing a feel of river crossing by hanging and gliding through the ropeway.

A watch tower is also coming up for enabling the tourists to have a view of the valley and the upper reaches of the Kovai Coutrallam falls as the silver line cascades from the Western Ghats. The existing forest rest house at Pooluvampatti has also been renovated at a cost of Rs. 4 lakh. At Chadivayal, a canteen hall is coming up for the benefit of tourists staying there and day tourists who bring their own food. The measure is aimed at avoiding the reserve forest area being littered with packing materials such as plastic.

FlyDubai plans India flights ..

FlyDubai, a low-cost carrier promoted by Emirates, is planning to start flights to India soon, according to a report.FlyDubai will initially fly to cities such as Lucknow, Coimbatore, Chandigarh and Jaipur, an official was quoted as saying in the report on Economic Times website.

The date for commencement of the service is yet to be announced.

An agreement between India and UAE allows each side a weekly seating capacity of over 29,000 in either direction on outbound flights.

Special train to mangalore !

Southern Railway has started a special train from Mangalore to Coimbatore to clear extra rush of passengers during the summer season. Train 0615 Coimbatore - Mangalore special will leave Coimbatore at 10.15 am on Saturdays from May 23 to June 27 and arrive here at 7 pm the same day. Train 0616 Mangalore - Coimbatore will leave Mangalore at 8.40 am on Sundays from May 24 to June 28 and reach Coimbatore at 5.25 pm on the same day.

The composition of the trains will be one first AC-cum-AC 2-tier, one AC 3-tier, six second sitting and eight general second class and two luggage cum brake van coaches. The trains will stop at Podanur, Palakkad, Shornur, Kuttipuram, Tirur, Kozhikode, Vadakara, Thalassery, Kannur, Payyanur, Kanhangad and Kasargod. Advance reservation for the above trains has commenced.