Illegal vendors threatening ecology of Eravikulam

The Eravikulam National Park in Munnar is facing

a major environmental issue due to the influx of unauthorised vendors in the region.The unauthorised vendors at Fifth Mile,

which lies at the entrance to the Rajamala, has been creating major traffic

issues also, pointed out forest officials. “There are a lot of illegal vendors

occupying space at Fifth Mile along the stretch on the Munnar-Udumalpet state

highway.Movement of visitors’ vehicles towards

and out of the parking area near the ticketing centre, along with the movement

of visitors who park their vehicles by the side of the Udumalpet- Munnar Road

makes the road in front of the entrance to the Tourism Zone of Eravikulam National

Park always congested,” officials pointed out. It has been pointed out that though a

dedicated parking area has been set up, strict measures are not being taken to

direct vehicles to the parking area. “It is considering these issues that a

specific parking lot was jointly set up by the Anamudi Forest Development

Agency and the Highrange Wildlife Preservation Association. However, there are no efforts for the

strict implementation of parking at this specific parking area,” sources said. They further pointed out that, in spite

of directions issued by the District Collector, no action has been taken to

evict illegal occupants along the stretch.There is a major issue of waste dumping

in the streams and Shola forest in and around Fifth Mile, thereby polluting streams

and sholas.

The volume of waste produced by the

vendors is beyond the management capacity of the Eco-Development Committees (EDCs)

operating in Rajamala.

There is a much more serious issue due

to waste dumping. It has been attracting wild animals,

including elephants.Consumption of waste materials,

including plastic dumped by the shops, may prove costly. There were incidents where wild animals

were attracted by the waste.