The Kerala High Court has temporarily shut down the trekking route to Palkulamedu in Idukki a day after it was opened by minister for water resources and local MLA Roshy Augustine. Reason: Failure to obtain obligatory clearances for ecotourism activities in a reserve forest area.

The mud road, which cuts through Nagarampara Reserve Forest under the Kottayam Forest Division, was officially opened to the public after nearly four years on February 28. But a day later on March 2, a two-judge High Court division bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Shyam Kumar V M invalidated the formal opening.

"We make it clear that the project shall not be operationalised unless the necessary clearances and approvals are obtained from the competent authorities," the Chief Justice said in the order.

The High Court's injunction was based on a writ petition filed by environmental activist M N Jayachandran seeking a bar on the entry of public into the reserve forest area. Jayachandran submitted that the trekking route was opened on February 28 without obtaining the necessary sanctions from competent authorities, including the Eco-Tourism Clearance Committee.

A high-level meeting to enable the opening of the eco-tourism spot on February 28 was held in forest minister V K Saseendran's chamber in Thiruvananthapuram on February 20. Besides the minister, the meeting was attended by additional chief secretary (forests and wildlife) Minhaj Alam, principal chief conservator of forests (forest management) L Chandrasekhar and other senior forest officials.

Palkulamedu, a green hill top with a virgin pond in the middle, can be reached through a 4.5-km narrow mud road that worms its way up with 20 hairpin bends through the reserve forest from a place called Althara, which is located west of Karimbin Kavala along the Idukki-Neriyamangalam road. The pond-topped grass peak, which is 3125 metres above sea level, offers breathtaking panoramic views.

Between 2017-18 and 2021-22, people had illegally sneaked up to the Palkulamedu view point. In this period, patches of the reserve forest were encroached upon by locals for agriculture. Even farm tourism was launched to lure trekkers. When things got out of hand, the Forest Department erected a crossbar at Althara Junction and shut tourist entry to the mud road that led up to Palkulamedu.

Soon enough, encroachers who had hoped to profit from the trekkers abandoned the areas they had violated. Undisturbed, the encroached patches were gradually returning to their original natural forest self until news spread that tourists would soon be let in through the road.

At the February 20 meeting, the chief conservator of forests (high range circle) Vinod Kumar D K said that some of the old encroachers returned and attempted to clear the forest once it was known that Palukulamedu would be opened. The CCF (high range circle) said that the encroachers were driven away.

The CCF put forward two conditions for throwing open the mud road for tourists. One, boundary stones should be used to demarcate encroached lands and the reserve forest. Without such demarcation, he said that the presence of tourists could induce profiteers to destroy larger forest swathes.

Two, obtain the sanction of the Eco-Tourism Clearance Committee. For this, the area's carrying capacity study should be conducted and a group insurance scheme for tourists should also be devised. Hairpin bends and forest fires are considered tourism risks in the area.

The Forest Department had just a week to satisfy these two conditions. The Special Government Pleader himself submitted in the Court that he did not have "any document to demonstrate that all statutory compliances have been obtained." The minutes of the February 20 meeting in which the forest minister had participated clearly states that the Palkulamedu Eco-Tourism Project can be opened only after adhering to all legal obligations.

The CCF (high range circle) has been given three weeks time to file an affidavit saying that all requirement have been met. Until then, the Court said that the area would remain closed for tourists. The opening of Palkulamedu is yet another proof of the LDF government's seemingly awkward haste to inaugurate development projects as the Assembly elections approach.