MALAPPURAM: The charming beauty of Nilambur, the land of golden teaks gifted with vast rain forests and rivers like Chaliyar, Kanjirampuzha and Karimpuzha, is going to be explored as never before.
The Tourism Department is going to launch a special promotion programme focusing the destination ‘Nilambur’, one of the most attractive ecotourism spots in the state, in the coming days.
The proposed Nilambur tourism promotion project covers the beautiful landscapes and monuments including Chaliyar Mukku, Nedumkayam, Adyanpara waterfalls, Kozhippara waterfalls, Connolly’s Plot, suspension bridge across Chaliyar, old DFO’s bungalow, KFRI teak sub-centre and bioresource plot, etc.
Two territorial divisions, Nilambur north and Nilambur south forest divisions comprise the forest area in Malappuram district.
Conolly’s Plot is the oldest teak plantation in the world and the biggest planted teak wood, with the 46.5 metre height and 4.2 metres girth at breast height, grows here. The plantation which was raised in the middle of the 18th century, by the then Malabar Collector H V Conolly, is still being conserved as a permanent preservation plot for research purposes.
The 143-metre-long suspension bridge across Chaliyar river connecting the Conolly’s Plot with the main land is one of the main attractions in Nilambur.
The walkway along Karimpuzha through the dense forest at Nedumkayam, is famous for attracting the tourists.
The grave of Dawson, the British forest engineer who constructed the Girdar Bridge across Karimpuzha, is situated at Nedumkayam. The visitors can also see the remainings of Elephant Training Camps in the forest area.
The secretary of District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) Madhu A K said, the department is planning to organise a tour operators' meet prior to the launch the special destination programme, on August 14 and 15 at Nilambur.
Representatives of hotels, tour operators, tourists guides, and the government officials will attend the meet, which is being organised with an aim of pulling more tourists towards the natural beauty of Nilambur, said Madhu.
A logo, in model of ‘Kumarakom’ and ‘Kovalam’, has been designed for ‘Nilambur’ and it will be finalised soon. The rain trips organised by DTPC during the last few weeks to Nilambur were a big success with the participation of travel enthusiasts.
