The Hindu : Front Page : Erode’s eco tourism project takes off

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Friday, Jul 31, 2009
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Erode’s eco tourism project takes off

Karthik Madhavan

PHOTO: M. GOVARTHAN

The tents put up by the Forest Department for tourists at Hassanur. —

THALAVADY: Finally, Erode district is on the tourist map of Tamil Nadu. Thanks to the initiative by the Sathyamangalam forest division, a small facility has come at Hassanur in the hills here. Called ‘Elephant Valley Tourism’, the forest department’s facility has a dormitory with six beds and two tents to house two persons each.

The facility has come up without much investment in an environment-friendly way, says District Forest Officer S. Ramasubramaniam. “The department has converted an existing guest house as the dormitory and put up the tents as artificial structures, all at a cost of only Rs. 3 lakh,” Mr. Ramasubramaniam says.

It has also tied up with a local Village Forest Committee, Bangalow Doddi VFC, to take care of food. The Committee along with Geddesal VFC will take care of the overall maintenance and day-to-day functioning of the tourist facility.

“The two Committees will use the income they get from letting out the rooms for maintaining and improving the centre,” the DFO says.

As part of the facility at the Hassanur centre, the department along with Keystone, a Kothagiri-based NGO, put a ‘Nature Information Centre’, where it has displayed photographs showcasing the rich flora and fauna of the hills.

“The department was interested in not just providing an entertainment facility at the centre. It also wanted to ‘infotain’ the visitors,” he explains.

Aside from the photographs, the Centre has also writings on the animals present in the wild, their behaviour, importance and place in the ecosystem. It has a sales counter as well, where forest produce collected by the tribes are processed and sold. Mr. Ramasubramaniam says the department plans to set up a reading room with books on forest, environment and wildlife and also a screening room where it will show guests videos and documentaries on wildlife.

“The department wants to provide much more facilities but in phases,” he says.

In addition to the above, the department also offers guests wildlife watching and trekking facilities.

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