Kalpetta: Wayanad tourism will soon get a boost with the High Court clearing the request of the state government to open the eco-tourism centres which remain shut for the past eight months in the district. The HC issued the order while considering a plea submitted by the Soochippara Vana Samrakshana Samithy (SVSS), challenging the direction of the court's February 17 order to shut these centres. While giving the nod to reopen the centres, the court directed the state government to re-fix the carrying capacity of tourists to be allowed at each centre.
The court ordered the closure of the eco-tourism centres following the death of VP Paul, an employee of the Kuruva Eco-Tourism Centre near Pulppalli in an elephant attack.
According to a communiqué of the office of Forest Minister A K Saseendran, though the HC permitted the reopening of the eco-tourism centres, a conditional order was issued. The forest minister said that the number of tourists visiting each destination should be restricted, based on an eco-impact study and fixing the carrying capacity of each.
The major eco-tourism centres that remain shut following the February 17 order are Soochippara Water Falls, Chembra Peak Trekking Trail, Kuruva Islands, Meenmutty Waterfalls (all under the South Wayanad Forest Division), Muthanga Jungle Safari and Tholppetti Eco-Tourism Centre (both under the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary), Brahmagiri Trail, Muneeswaran Kunnu trekking trail and Meenmutty Waterfalls at Korome (under North Wayanad Forest Division).
The closure of the centres affected thousands of people involved in tourism-related activities including curio shop owners, employees of shops, tourists’ taxi drivers and employees of eco-tourism centres.
The Soochippara VSS alone has more than 200 employees and 48 tourist guides to cater for the tourists. The carrying capacity of Soochippara waterfalls was 1200 earlier, according to KM Thambi, a resident of Soochippara.
“ With the new court order, the number of tourists would be further cut down. It would make things tough for the VSS to operate as the fee collection will not be sufficient to provide salary for the employees”, Thambi said.
“There are eight shops selling tea and curios as well as petty shops run by women and farmers outside the centre along the road”, he added.
According to the natives, more than 300 families in the region depend on tourism to earn a living.
Apart from Soochippara, the authority had restricted the number of visitors to Kuruva Island, Edakkal Caves, Muthanga and Tholpetty wildlife sanctuaries, Chembra Peak and En Uru, the tribal heritage village. At the wildlife sanctuaries, only 60 safari trips of vehicles would be allowed into the jungle irrespective of the number of visitors in each vehicle. The Muthanga eco-tourism centre has four buses of its own and 12 registered jeeps of local people to transport tourists.
However, tourism circles are yet to get an official intimation on reopening the centres. The facilities in most of the centres were ruined during the eight-month-long closure. Almost all toilets in all stations need repairing before opening, according to sources. Moreover, the forest department and District Tourism Promotion Council that jointly operate the eco-tourism centres have to go through the verdict thoroughly before fine-tuning the new guidelines in tune with the court order.
