തേക്കടി ബോട്ട് ദുരന്തം Ensure Safe Tourism

Suggestions and recommendations for ensuring Safe Tourism in Thekkady

Guruvayruappan.S

Former Social Scientist, Periyar Tiger Reserve, Thekkady.

5^th October 2009

To

The Chief Minister, Government of Kerala

Ministers of Forest, Tourism, Irrigation, Kerala

Dear Sirs,

I am also joining in the condolence of the demise of all life in Thekkady boat tragedy.

I am writing this letter as a guilty conscience as I could not contribute much in terms of providing support and suggestion to ensure safe tourism, though I worked in Periyar Tiger Reserve for 8 years (1996-2004) working as Sociologist in India Eco-development Project. I knew the real situation and many facts from the grass root level of many things as a person who worked for social transformation than a Social scientist. (But feel proud as I could contribute to great extent in planning and implementing Ecodevelopment strategy and related sustainable tourism practices) I would like to point out some real situation that I have experienced in my 8 years of experience there – in connection with the latest Boat Tragedy happened.

1) First of all the past and present system of boating, ticket issuing, safety measures, dual authority, have followed many false practices which could not be controlled by the managers . Culprits are the tourism industry, political system controlled by some vested interested groups and government machinery. Some other points to highlight:

2) Tickets to Boat entry are issued by KTDC and Forest Department separately. But Entrance ticket is issued by Kerala Forest department to the visitors. While Issuing boat ticket, some middle men also worked who managed to get ticket and they sell it as ‘black ticket’ for higher price. Some times entrance ticket issued by KFD was also repeatedly used by these middle men. As there were no cross- checking during that time, there were no control over it. Later punching system was imposed by forest department to stop the duplication.

3) There were many such serious malpractices happening in admitting the number of visitors to each boat. Some times more number of visitors were accommodated be there in many boats (such tourists may not be having ticket , but having forest entry ticket; not having neither boat ticket not entry ticket!). This many a time lead to overloading. The situation was worse in KTDC boats than forest boats.(Note: this does not occur in all the trips. But I have noticed this fact many times and I was also offered such travels - happened sometimes with my friends. I was strict in taking the tickets in private visits. My stand in this regard is known to all the staff who worked while I was in Thekkady.) To the latest information, overloading continued up to the last day of boating. – on the “Black day”

4) Adequate life jackets are not there in many of the boats. If it were there, it was never insisted to wear to the tourists.

5) Still, there is no announcement system regarding safety or general instructions before boating or on the way.

6) If my knowledge is correct, Some of the boats are over aged/ out of date were plying after repairs.

7) During the time of shortage for licensed drivers, by means of vacancy or leave, some others were managed as drivers.

8) I am sure that most of the drivers know the lake, boat route, turning points, position of Mullaperiyar canal and the dried trees standing even below the water level. So there is only a very remote chance of mishandling in boat driving.

9) Boating in Periyar lake for 1.5 -2 hours is quite long. In most occasions, tourists felt restless in 30 minutes travel. Further the situation will be quite boring. To satisfy the tourists, the driver has to apply their own management skills.

10) There is a practice that KTDC boats will be either stopped or moved towards animal side for making opportunities to take photographs. This emerged as a serious issue years back and was settled at some point of time. But it continued at every opportunity (the last example may be the tragic incidence)

11) It is common that while seeing animal, the tourists tend to move to that side. But on that occasion, drivers and helpers used to say the warnings and ask them to sit in their seats. But many times tourists will not sit in their seats and they move to the most visibility area. At that time a slight sliding of boats will be happening. The drivers will be managing the boats with utmost care and they even harsh words to sit the tourists in their seats. This has resulted in complaining against the drivers and staff as their misbehaviour. Some tourists even consume alcohol in the boats and make issues. As there is no adequate staff in the boats those who are in duty finding difficulty in managing the situation.

12) Regarding the boat which drowned in the tragedy, there was no good opinion on it. There were opinion from staff and public that it is not fit for safe boating. Even this was reported in some Medias during the time of inauguration. It is heard that the boat was sliding in its first trip itself. This was experienced by the media persons. There was no good opinion from the side of boat drivers or from experienced people. But the drivers used it as it is assigned to him by the higher authority, as they are bound to handle it.

13) Still there are questioning about the authority of KTDC to run boats on Periyar lake.

14) Upper duck, lower duck discrimination is another wrong practice as the tourists prefer upper duck than lower. In many occasions upper duck will be carrying more visitors than lower duck. Driving in such occasions found difficult.

15) Disparity in boat ticket charges issued by forest and KTDC is always invited unnecessary issues.

16) The ethics of running boats only for commercial purpose in Periyar Tiger Reserve is always questioned in many occasions, discussions and meetings. Always KTDC hold an upper hand and nobody could question it as they will be treated as anti-development persons.

17) There are not enough safety measures or disaster management plans and practices though Thekkady holds about 5 lakh tourists a year. Even speed boats are not enough in number in good condition (it is known that the speed boat which was travelled by the DD PT got stuck on the way to disaster site on that incident day)

18) Still there is a practice that all tourist vehicles and middlemen will be waiting at Thekkady entrance check post for waiting 6 AM to get entry permit to get in to the sanctuary. Once entry is permitted, all the vehicles will be running at maximum speed for 3 kms to reach the boat landing to get the boat ticket at the earliest. For this they are forced to violate all rules and regulations which has to be followed in a Tiger Reserve. But some measures are made such as: To limit the speed, some speed breakers are put at some various points. But as this time is crucial to get boat ticket, many vehicle does not see these hurdles and many times accidents happened.

19) As anybody gets tickets who are in queue, some people permanently take first positions in queue to get ticket for re-sale at higher price. Many occasions this is was also undergone for many criticisms. The government system could not make any control over such unauthorised people entering in to the park as they are residents of Kumily. (Residents of Kumily can enter in to sanctuary with some special considerations. This is misused by such people.)

So with my past and present experience from Thekkady and as a Stakeholder of Periyar Tiger Reserve, I would like to make some suggestions and recommendations for safe conservation based tourism in Thekkady.

1. One Authority, that too Kerala Forest Department shall operate all type of visitor management programs inside Periyar Tiger Reserve by following wildlife conservation principles.
2. If boating is allowed, it should be limited to half an hour or a maximum of one hour. (Boating can be limited up to Lakeplalace area or up to Manakkavala)
3. Before restarting Boat cruise in Periyar Lake, install computerised ticket booking as done by Indian railways with passenger details- name, age, address, contact phone number trip details etc - with name of boat, boat timing seat number etc. Ticket charge with split-up – park entry charge, actual travel charge, (Periyar foundation surcharge / park welfare surcharge etc ) shall be printed for transparency. This shall be applied to all boats used for tourism purpose.
4. Seating arrangement shall be made based on the principle of weight balance.(as done in air travels)
5. Ticket booking counter shall be placed at Thekkady entrance gate check post area. This shall be managed by Ecodevelopment confederation/ Professional group confederation committee/ Ecodevelopment committees. Ticket booking for all tourism related activities can be done at this point. So if boat ticket is not available for a particular time, tourists can opt for another activity such as nature walk, museum visit, guided trekking programs etc. This will ensure safe travel in forest area by the tourists in which they can enjoy 3 km safari towards boat landing point.
6. Ticket verification shall be made compulsory before getting down to the lakeside. For non- tourists, either identity card, or free entry pass shall be issued by the authority and verified at the checking point.
7. Ensure noise-free, pollution-free, eco-friendly boats are running in the lake.
8. Engage specially trained guides who can explain to tourists in each boat.
9. There shall not be any disparity in seating arrangements, price difference and boating time
10. Insurance mechanism to visitors and staff who travel in boat has to be made and timely renew the dues has to be ensured.
11. There shall be adequate staff corresponding to the number of passengers in the vessel.
12. Forest and Ethics including National Tiger Conservation Authority rules and guidelines shall be given priority in forest area than development needs.
13. Convene a meeting of Stakeholders including staff of forest and KTDC, (Permanent, temporary, daily waged workers etc), Ecodevelopment & confederation committee members, Ecodevelopment volunteers, who works in Thekkady and analyse the past history of I and related tourism in a realistic angle without any pre-conceived notions. You may invite those who worked in past who were involved in tourism and boating related field. And conduct a Workshop or Convene a meeting of hoteliers, tourist guides, panchayath members, press and media and representatives of Forest, KTDC,EDC etc for a detailed discussion for arriving concrete solutions.
14. Instead of conducting a tourist carrying capacity study, study shall be for demarking maximum limit for tourism activities area in the lake and number of tourism activities in Thekkady. The study shall be done based on the principles of ensuring forest ecology protection.
15. Revisit all the tourism related programs of Periyar Tiger reserve especially the professional group EDCs and include provisions for insurance to the visitors and the EDC members for all activities. To my knowledge there are no such provisions to any of the schemes.
16. Refresh all professional EDCs by providing skill development trainings as refresher programs.
17. Please try to make ensure best co-ordination and co-operations among staff and EDC members for ensuring better protection and conservation.
18. In the particular issue, instead of merely blaming the driver and climatic conditions, enquiry shall be made on officials who involved in the purchase of this boat. Any way the particular boat shall be made unfit.
19. An independent agency should check the fitness of the vessel.
20. Disaster management team should be established in Kumily and should be effective and full functioning at any point of time and places wherever required at the fringe of Periyar Tiger Reserve.
21. Finally, but an important note: The boating is made in 115 year old Mullaperiyar Dam Reservoir. It is not the question of boating operated by Kerala Forest Department or Kerala Tourism Development Corporation, but the safety of the dam is already challenged. We need to take care of this aspect also while planning for tourism, development and Tiger conservation based wildlife protection programs. For Safer future, De-commissioning of Mullaperiyar dam has to be done in by lowering the water level up to 110/120 feet instead of keeping 136 feet. If done, worry on dam safety can be kept aside for some more time, with in that period alternative mechanism can be evolved.

Residents of Kumily and Thekkady including thousands of Ecodevelopment committee members are depending Periyar Tiger reserve for their livelihood by way of protection and Conservation based Tourism programs. Model plans and decisions has to be made at the earliest so as to the restore a prefect and safe tourism in Thekkady.

I hope you may treat this letter with due importance before taking final decisions.

Yours faithfully,

S.Guruvayurappan,

Kamakshi Kripa, Neelikkad, Thatthamangalam Post, Palakkad, Kerala .PIN- 678102

Presently working as: Project Officer & co-ordinator, (South India),

Wildlife Protection Society of India- New Delhi. www.wpsi-india.org.

Phone: 0 944 77 00 321 E-mail: sguruvayurappan@gmail.com