Kalpetta: In the wake of protests against regulating the number of tourists to Kuruva Islands, the Forest department has decided to open both entry points on the island.

The High Court has directed the department to reduce the number of tourists to be allowed to Kuruva Islands from 950 to 400. Based on this order, the department decided to allow entry only via Pakkam and the other point, Palvelicham, was to be closed.

This led to protests from the local community, as hundreds of families depended on tourism for survival on both banks of the River Kabani. The Kuruva Eco Tourism spot is an island in the River Kabani that can be accessed from both sides of the river.

The residents of Palvelicham formed an action council to pressure the district administration and the forest department to allow access to Kuruva Islands through the River Kabani from both sides.

A meeting was held with the protesters on Thursday. It was decided that 200 tourists could be allowed entry via Palvelicham.

The tourism stakeholders of Palvelicham have been eagerly waiting to resume tourism activities from the ecotourism centre as they had incurred huge losses. “For the last fifteen years, I have depended on the tourists to earn my livelihood. I had started the eatery taking a loan, and I had to meet all the expenses for a year with the income received from the venture during six months,” said Vijayalakshmi of Kabani Mess at Palvelicham.

The Kuruva Ecotourism Centre was closed down after a High Court order on February 17 following the death of PV Paul, a native of Pakkom who was killed in an elephant attack.