THENI: In March 2018, over 23 people lost their lives in a devastating forest fire that broke out in Kurangani. The tragedy was a wake-up call for the authorities, which rushed to plug holes in forest area surveillance; there was blood on the carpet. It has been two years since. Has the situation improved, one might ask. The answer is a firm no.
According to sources, an average of 50 tourists a day are risking their very lives to watch the sunrise from the Singaparai located near Kolukkumalai. These tourists, mostly from other States including neighbouring Kerala, undertake a precarious journey by foot in mornings heavy with fog and through paths flanked by steep gorges, some over 300 feet deep. The forest department officials, tasked with preventing such illegal trekking, often finish with the wooden spoon.
These 'trekkers' often start off as tourists coming to Munnar in Kerala. However, according to sources, there are individuals in these areas who offer trekking programmes to Kolukkumalai, snaring the tourists with a vivid vignette of the picturesque locations they can feast their eyes on. These 'agents' arrange jeeps to take the tourists from Suryanelli to Kolukkumalai through estate roads. The jeeps can go only till the foothills, from where the tourists continue their journey to Kolukkumalai by foot. These tourists are taken to these places without the knowledge of the forest department in Theni, which had shut the area off to tourists.
According to a senior official with the forest department, tourists are not allowed to go to the interstate boundary, where Kolukkumalai is situated. "The department has learnt that several jeep operators are taking tourists to Kolukkumalai and Singaparai areas; we have informed the same to our Kerala counterparts," he said. The issue will also be taken up with the principal chief conservator of forests for further action, sources said. Speaking to TNIE, Collector M Pallavi Baldev said that she would have a discussion with the Idukki district administration and take steps to curb the illegal trekking.