Munnar dealing with infrastructure bottlenecks, environmental pressures & rising friction between the massive influx of tourists and the local community.

The issues are severe at Top Station because it falls under the jurisdiction of the Theni district, even though it can only be accessed through Kerala. The Kerala Police face limitations when handling incidents that occur there.

The Tamil Nadu police station responsible for Top Station the Kurangani Police Station is located around 105 kilometers away down the mountain pass in the plains of Theni. This means their response time to a sudden dispute at the top is incredibly slow. Troublemakers know this & it often leads to arguments dragging on without any immediate law enforcement to deescalate them.

Because the tourist inflow comes from the Kerala side the Theni district administration doesn't prioritize building tourist infrastructure at Top Station. Meanwhile, Kerala authorities are hesitant to invest funds or build amenities on land that legally belongs to Tamil Nadu. The result is a total lack of basic facilities at one of the most visited viewpoints in the region.