Wayanad too demands Ooty and Kodaikanal model restriction on tourists and vehicles

Thiruvananthapuram: Close on the heels of the Madras high court making e-pass mandatory for outside vehicles entering Ooty and Kodaikanal hill stations in Tamil Nadu from May 7 to June 30, a similar demand is coming up from Wayanad in Kerala.

The fresh move has come up at a time when Kerala tourism sector is anticipating an increase in tourists to hill stations of the state owing to the e-pass requirement in the popular hill stations of neighbouring Tamil Nadu. Owing to the hot weather already hill stations like Munnar in Idukki district of Kerala are witnessing an increase in domestic tourists.

A forum of environmentalists of Wayanad has raised the demand for imposing measures like e-pass to regulate the flow of tourists to the ecologically fragile high-range district.

The Wayanad Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithi (Wayanad nature protection forum), which raised the demand, is even suggesting a fresh legislation for regulating the number of vehicles in Wayanad.

"At present the number of tourists visiting Wayanad every month is more than double the population of Wayanad. The alarmingly increasing vehicular movement and development activities for promoting tourism are affecting Wayanad's ecology, livelihood of the people of Wayanad who are mainly engaged in agriculture as well as the wildlife and forests," said the Samathi president N Badusha.

The state government should constitute an expert committee to study these aspects and recommend corrective measures, the forum urged in representations to the state government.

Idukki district tourism promotion council secretary Jithesh Jose said that there could be an increase in the flow of tourists to the hill stations of Kerala in the coming weeks owing to the regulation in the popular hill stations of Tamil Nadu.

Already places like Munnar in Idukki are witnessing an increasing flow of domestic tourists owing to the summer vacations and hot climate. Since the climate at the hill stations during the day time is also comparatively high, tourists are preferring to visit during morning and evening hours. Many tourists from nearby places are also preferring overnight stays to enjoy the cold climate. At Munnar the temperature is 20 degree Celsius or even below during night, while in many parts of Kerala the temperature is around 40 degree Celsius.