Guess how many people visited Semmozhi Poonga in last four days?

COIMBATORE: More than 52,000 people visited the newly inaugurated Semmozhi Poonga in the city in the last four days. On Sunday alone, around 27,450 people visited the park, causing a massive traffic congestion on the Dr Nanjappa Road. Around 16,027 people visited the park on Saturday.

The parking space in the park was full, forcing many visitors to park their vehicles on the road, which choked the traffic flow. The influx of visitors was unexpected, and the park’s management struggled to accommodate the large number of people. The lack of adequate parking facilities exacerbated the situation, leading to congestion on the surrounding roads.

The park was inaugurated by chief minister M K Stalin on Nov 25. It was thrown open to the public on Dec 11. The park spans 45 acres and features a variety of flora under 23 themes. The park has a parking facility to accommodate 1,000 two-wheelers and 450 four-wheelers.

Commenting on this traffic congestion, retired divisional state highways officer G Manu Needhi said, “Since this is a massive recreational spot, it is an inaugural craze. Once the craze subsides, the crowd shall be manageable. Meanwhile, an alternative entry and exit should be facilitated. Also, the corporation can consider facilitating a temporary parking facility on VOC zoo land that is lying idle, where people can park their vehicles and walk through the alternative entry towards the Jail Road.”

Corporation mayor R Ranganayaki said a consultative meeting would be held on Tuesday to discuss the shortcomings. She said, “Since it is a new project, people are much eager and creating an unusual crowd, and the number might return to normal in the upcoming days. However, we have plans to provide an additional parking space to manage the weekend crowd, which shall be discussed in the meeting. To avoid long queues at ticket counters, people can buy tickets online using the QR code.”



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