Tourism Dept moots curbs on number of visitors to Edakkal caves
In what could be termed as the ‘Responsible Tourism effect’, the Tourism Department has proposed the limiting of visitors to the historic Edakkal caves in Wayanad a day to a maximum of 720. Currently, during peak days, the number of visitors to the caves a day cross 3000. This is the first time the State’s Tourism Department has intervened to reduce the number of visitors to any of its major tourist destinations.
The Edakkal Caves was declared a heritage site on September 10 and the Tourism Department has been asked to devise strategies for visitor management. On the basis of this, a Visitor Management Plan has been devised by the Wayanad Responsible Tourism (RT) Cell, under the Department of Tourism.
The maximum number of persons who will be allowed inside the main cave at a particular period of time, as per the plan, is also proposed to be limited to 30.
Now, especially during holidays, between 100 to 200 visitors swarm the 1000 sq ft area of the main cave at a given time.
Last Republic Day, the number of visitors to the cave was 2391. And in the two days before the Republic Day, on January 24 and 25, the numbers were 2330 and 1782. On Gandhi Jayanti day last October, there were 3045 visitors.
The average number of daily visitors to the Edakkal Caves had also risen, from 348 in 2006 to 637 in 2008. Such a heavy crowd, according to the RT Cell, is causing safety problems and damage to formations and carvings inside the cave.
The RT Cell also proposes that the maximum time a group can spend in the main cave is 20 minutes. Therefore the maximum possible visitors to the cave in eight hours (9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) works out to 720.
The RT Cell plan proposes a prior reservation system through internet for a time slot of 20 minutes each. It also speaks of Tele Booking (Advance payment through Reservation Agents like Akshaya and Friends) and Mobile Booking.
The other major recommendation is to ban vehicular traffic from the Edakkal gateway. Visitors should take the 900-metre walkway to reach the caves. The objective is to reduce vehicular pollution. A radical suggestion is the creation of a ‘board walk’ developed outside the caves to return to the cave entry gate.
As of now, there is just a single entry and exit point. This is leading to chaos, especially during days of heavy rush, and poses a threat to the heritage value of the caves. The separate ‘board walk’ will ensure that those returning from the main cave do not return along the same path taken by those who are entering the caves.
RT Cell’s Prasanth Nellickal said that a participatory approach was followed in the creation of the Visitor Management Plan.
“We had one-on-one discussions with the president and ward members of Nemmeni Panchayat, under which the Edakkal Caves fall, the representatives of the Wayanad Tourism Organisation (WTO) and the officials of the DTPC,” Prasanth said.