COIMBATORE: Chief Wildlife Warden Srinivas R Reddy, along with officials of the forest department, on Saturday conducted an inspection on foot for 16km from Avalanche to Koleribetta Earthen Dam in Nilgiris, which is among the 40 trekking routes in Tamil Nadu that will be opened soon. Kolaribetta is the second-highest peak in the Nilgiris.
“We are planning to reduce the distance from 16 km to 10 km. The trekkers should have complete protection to handle low temperatures and strong wind since the route is at a high altitude.
We will provide insurance for trekkers, and the amount will be collected during booking. We will provide it for guides too. We will not allow trekking between February and May when the state faces a temperature rise and the chances of forest fires are more,” he said.
The forest department is likely to launch a website exclusively for people to register for trekking in the 40 routes. The trekkers will be allowed in groups, with each group having a maximum of 15 people. Only two groups will be allowed on difficult routes in a day.
They will be accompanied by tribal guides. Four or more groups will be allowed for trekking on routes that are categorised as easy. Among 40 rotues, four are in Coimbatore, and eight are in Nilgiris forest division.