IDUKKI: When the Munnar Mission launched by the V S Achuthanandan government in 2007 and the subsequent High Court order restricting construction activities in seven villages in Idukki took a toll on tourism in Munnar, settler farmers in the nearby village of Kunjithanni, under Vellathooval panchayat, never in their wildest dreams thought that their neighbourhood’s misfortune would turn into an opportunity for them.
In 2010, the court imposed restrictions in Kanan Devan Hills village, Bisonvalley, Chinnakanal, Santhanpara, Vellathooval, Anaviratty, and Pallivasal.
Excluding Kunjithanni from the list resulted in resorts and homestays mushrooming in Anachal (ward 5), Eetticity (ward 6), Kunjithanni (7), Muthuvankudy (9), and Thokkupara (4) areas of the panchayat because of their proximity to Munnar and nearby tourism locations such as Chenkulam and Chithirapuram.
Investors like Tata opening a ‘scenic’ Taj-affiliated hotel in Eetticity, apart from other five-star properties such as Fog and Vibe, consequently increased the land value in the area, marking Kunjithanni as new ground for the tourism industry.
M V Vavachan, a homestay owner in Thokkupara, says that local residents who had no options to buy good land purchased individual plots in Eetticity, a high-range area with deep gorges, years back. “They eked out a living engaging in farming,” he said
Vavachan said the restriction imposed by the HC on constructing commercial buildings in seven villages, including Munnar, was unexpected as it proved a setback to many a business tycoon’s plans to open new resorts in the Munnar area. “While searching for other green pastures, Kunjithanni hit the spotlight,” he said
When land value, which had remained constant at Rs 10,000 a cent before 2010, climbed to Rs 5-10 lakh/cent, nearly 30% of settlers sold off their land and migrated to other locations. “The rest supported the tourism efforts by starting homestays of their own, adventure parks and other facilities,” Vavachan said.
According to tourism-industry sources, around 300 resorts and homestays have come up in the area over the last 14 years with Eetticity, once the least developed corner of Kunjithanni, turning into a township.
Local-body member Jaisy Biju said the transformation was rapid. “Kunjithanni is perhaps the village in the state where the most number of resorts and homestays have come up in the past 10 years,” she said Former secretary of Munnar panchayat K N Sahajan said as per the 2010 order of the HC, land issued under the Land Assignment Rules, 1964, cannot be used for the construction of commercial buildings. “Acquiring an NoC from the revenue department was held as a pre-requisite for carrying out any construction in Munnar. This resulted in commercial building construction coming to a halt in Munnar,” he said
“Moreover, during the Munnar Mission, a number of resorts which were found to be in violation of the Land Assignment Rules were either demolished or taken over by the government,” he said
Sahajan opined that although the court order has been beneficial for Munnar in terms of addressing ecological concerns and protecting government land from encroachers, the restriction should have been eased by allowing commercial construction in an environmentally feasible way that allows for growth of tourism in Munnar.