MULLAPERIYAR DAM ISSUE
AFFECTS TOURISM IN IDUKKI
The Mullaperiyar issue has slightly affected the tourist inflow in Munnar, while there is nearly 60 percent drop in tourists in Thekkady, the second prime tourism spot in Idukki district after Munnar. District Tourism Promotion Council Secretary Joykutty George said that one reason for high tourist fall in Thekkady is that domestic tourists shifting their destination to Munnar after the issue related to the Mullaperiyar dam surfaced. November to March is considered the peak tourism season and the domestic tourists might have postponed the travel and the fall in Thekkady is expected to be compensated slowly when the crisis is over, he said. Before the crisis hit, the arrival of tourists in both the destinations were higher than that of the same period during the last season, he said and added that the tourist drop in Thekkady was eight percent or below. Mr Joykutty, however said that he had personally noticed more foreign tourists in Munnar even after the crisis and it is a pointer that foreign tourists have not postponed their travel to Munnar. “Compared to the previous year, there are more enquiries of foreigners at the information counter run by the DTPC in Munnar.” It is estimated that an average of 2,000 tourists visit in Munnar and the annual arrival is estimated about 48,000, he said. All he tourism packages conducted by the DTPC is continuing and the village site tour arranged by it has turned the most favourite package for foreigners. The package start from Munnar, has now been extended including the Rajakkad panchayat where the package ends at Kallimaly. He said that the package connecting the two destinations has also been affected and the drop in tourists in Thekkady is attributed to its proximity with Theni in Tamil Nadu where violent incidents were reported. He said that foreign tourists are only a minor percentage of the total tourist arrival in Thekkady and whether they have cancelled the trip is only available by March.
A large number of tourists especially from North India and abroad arrive Munnar through Kochi and they might have cancelled the travel to Thekkady a reason for marked drop in the presence of tourists there. The other main route is Alleppey, Thekkady and Munnar. A large number of tourists from Tamil Nadu also visit Thekkady and they might have either cancelled the trip or postponed it to a later period. An official of a tour operating agency at Kumily which has offices in metro cities said that there was a considerable cancellation of chartered tour especially from North India to Thekkady. He said that at least a portion of them desist from arriving this season as they plan the tour in advance. He said that after the boat tragedy in Thekkady, which dent a blow to the tourist arrivals for a long period, the tourism activities were slowly picked up before the present crisis and the marked drop in their arrival will impact up on the economy of Kumily town which is completely depending on the tourism activity in Thekkady.
Prof. John Kurakar
2 comments:
Well,one thing must be considered. The toursiam is one of the major income source of kerala government. As Thekkadi and other places are rich in tourism the governemtn poliyc will disturb the policies
It is intriguing to note the decision of Apex court. How could the Supreme Court decide the safety of a dam 116 years old? The dam was constructed using surkhi mortar. Even a layman can say that this kind of dam can fail during an earth quake. This dam is not designed taking seismic activities into account. There are frequent tremor in the area for the last few months. If Kerala is ready to share the water as per the present use with Tamil Nadu there is no justification for Tamil Nadu to object construction of a new dam by Kerala using Kerala’s resources and within Kerala’s boundary. Mrs Jayalalitha should apply her judicious mind to decide on the issue. Not a political mind. It is the question of the safety of 3 million people. Kerala had submitted an affidavit in Supreme Court regarding the sharing of water with Tamil Nadu. The political parties in TN should realize the dangers ahead.
The threat by Jayalalithaa of releasing the list of men who are favoured ‘in kind’ will back fire on TN. What would be result if an NGO filed a PIL against corruption in the whole issue? It is disheartening to read the statement of Jayalalithaa regarding safety of dam. It is to be decided by scientific evaluations and not by Court. Let Wisdom prevail.
The Apex Court should decide the issue after listening the opinion of experts -scientists and engineers. Let not delay the decision.
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