THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The offseason trekking in Agastya Mala which began in March is receiving a tremendous response with the forest department earning a revenue of Rs 18,74,847 in the short period from the start of March till now. After the annual season trekking arranged by the Kerala Forest Department, which was carried out in the month of January-February, the yearly off-season trekking has begun and many are in the line to scale the 1868m high Agastya Mala in the Neyyar Wildlife Sanctuary.
Every year, the department conducts two kinds of trek -- the season trekking where the booking is done online and the off-season trekking where the booking has to be done offline. Even while the rates for the offseason trekking are slightly higher than during the season time, the trek is finding a good number of takers with the bookings in the month of April getting already filled.
As many as 652 people have trekked during the off-season period up till now.
Meanwhile, an amount of Rs. 42,13,860 was garnered by the department during the season trekking which saw as many as 2,667 trekkers climb the hill. The season trek this year began on January 20 and ended on February 26. The offseason trekking which is a special package trek is however held with a lot of control, with the daily limit being restricted to under 100.
According to forest department officials, even as the off-season trekking is technically held around the year, the trekking is not carried out during the monsoon season. "The season treks see a lot of rush and not many people get to trek during that period. So the off-season trek helps them undertake the trek. A good number of people are opting for this. The carrying capacity is less and only those under 100 are taken during the trek. The trek is not held during the monsoon months," said Suresh Babu IS, wildlife warden, Thiruvananthapuram.
Two kinds of tickets are available, one which allows a team of five people to trek and another which allows ten people to trek under a single ticket. The cost of the former is Rs. 13,310 and the latter is Rs. 26,620. Three forest guides cum cook accompanies the team of trekkers. The three-day trekking is held only three days a week viz. Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. The cost for a single trekker during season trekking was Rs 1580.
To avail the offseason trek, one has to place a request to the wildlife warden, Thiruvananthapuram and can be availed only offline. Last year, due to the Covid restrictions, the season trekking wasn't carried out. The off-season trekking was held during the months when the restrictions weren't there. Those who applied during the months of October and November and couldn't do the trek due to the restrictions have been given a slot during this year's off-season trek.