Ponneri (Vellore) Tamil Nadu, Aug. 29 : Located 14 kilometres from Ponneri on the Vaniyambadi-Tirupattur Road and situated midway between Chennai and Bangalore Yelagiri Hills is a hill resort which is also known as the ''Poor Man''s Ooty’.

Until the other day, the scenic Yelagiri didn’t have much to draw tourists except the boating experience in the stream and lake at the foothills. But today it has many attractions for tourists and the latest addition is paragliding.

Yelagiri Hills has now been developed as an ideal destination for adventure sports enthusiasts, particularly those who are fond of paragliding. It is all set to become a nodal point for adventure sports and the curtain-raiser will be an international event to be hosted in September.

"Yelagiri is a well connected town. It''s near both to Chennai and Bangalore. Well-connected roads and easy access of transportation can make it a good tourist destination. Earlier, there were not many tourist attractions, but with the coming up of paragliding facility, we are hoping for a growth in tourism in Yelagiri," said Dharmendra Prasad Yadav, District Collector of Vellore.

Yelagiri Paragliding Club (YPC), set up for promoting the sport would conduct the first international paragliding festival in South India at the Yelagiri Hills. The three-day festival will commence next week on September 5.

About 50 para-gliders from India and abroad would be participating in the festival.

For the grand success of this notable event, P. H. Gopal, a social worker of Auroville and himself a member of Yelagiri Adventure Sports Association (YASA), and Yelagiri Paragliding Club (YPC) is helping the Vellore District administration in the development of Yelagiri Hills as a paragliding destination.

Yelagiri Paragliding Club would facilitate individuals or professional organisations to set up paragliding training centres in the Yelagiri Hills. (ANI)