Kodaikanal | The hills are (barely) alive

Subject: Geography

Section: Mapping

Context:

Kodaikanal, a hill station, is facing severe tourist footfall, leading to the problem of waste management, overcrowding, illegal construction and pollution of all forms.

Kodaikanal- Dindigul district in the state of Tamil Nadu.

Situated in the Palani hills of Western Ghats.
Also known as “Princess of Hill stations”
The earliest references to Kodaikanal and the Palani hills are found in Tamil Sangam literature.
It has an irregular basin as its heartland, the center of which is now Kodaikanal Lake. The lake is a man-made lake of circumference 5 kilometres (3.1 mi), formed by blocking three water streams in 1863.
Guna caves- A tourism spot in Kodaikanal hills.

Carrying Capacity:

Excessive tourism is a pan-India problem.
‘Carrying capacity’ is a broad term that covers many aspects and features of a region, indicating the maximum number of visitors to a destination at a given time, with least damage to the environment and cultural landscape.
The Madras High Court has now recommended similar carrying capacity studies for the hill stations of Udhagamandalam and Kodaikanal in South India, with the aim of regulating tourist entries.
In 2023, the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change asked the Supreme Court to direct 13 Himalayan States to conduct surveys to assess the ‘carrying capacities’ of towns in these fragile ecosystems.
- It recommended a detailed study by a panel of experts in the fields of hydrology, environment and climate studies, as per the guidelines of the GB Pant National Institute of Himalayan Environment.
Earlier, in 2018, the National Green Tribunal had directed the Union Ministry of Urban Development and Union Environment Ministry to undertake similar studies in all States and Union Territories.

Too many homestays:

The 2022 guidelines introduced by Tamil Nadu Tourism for homestays and B&Bs have led to a significant increase in such establishments in the Nilgiris. While some view this trend as sustainable- leveraging existing properties to avoid building new hotels which could strain local resources– environmental concerns have also been raised.
Many homestays are operating illegally in ecologically sensitive areas, potentially with official complicity. This has prompted legal action and a halt in issuing new homestay licenses, with significant involvement from local tourism associations recognizing the environmental and regulatory challenges.

Sky Island under threat:

The shola forests in the Western Ghats, recognized as part of a “sky-island” system due to their unique highland isolation, are facing severe threats.
Over the past four decades, the Palani Hills region, spanning Tamil Nadu and Kerala, has seen a drastic reduction in its grasslands and shola forests, with about 80% loss attributed initially to invasive species and more recently to agriculture and tourism pressures.
While the forest lands are relatively protected, the buffer zones where forest meets agricultural and commercial land are poorly defined, leading to widespread encroachments.
Efforts to restore the ecosystem have been primarily led by forest guards in the Kodaikanal Wildlife Sanctuary.

Source: TH