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A dam and a forest

Photo: Soma Basu

Green dream The Pechiparai reservoir

All right the whole world goes to Pechiparai, and I did too. But the world stops at the Pechiparai dam, built across the Kodayar river, to view the white columns of water crash down angrily from a height of 120 metres along the 425 metre long dam.

The dam which was built during the reign of Travancore Maharaja Moolam Thirunal has a catchment area of 204 sq km. It was designed by a European engineer Minchin on the pattern of Periyar dam in Madurai district.

What attracts people to this place is the camp shed at the dam site and the 14.63-metre deep reservoir adjacent to it. The world is enamoured by the perennial pleasant weather, the dam’s scenic setting against a mountainous backdrop. And since picnicking is the ultimate fun for most tourists, they put a full stop to their enjoyment with a boat ride on the lake reservoir. Not I.

I trekked into the dense forest with ravines that surrounds the reservoir.

It’s home to kanikars, the hill tribe who dwell in small numbers around the lake, and several animals such as tiger, elephants and deer. I reach Pechiparai from Nagercoil on a sleepy forenoon. The clouds are ready to burst and the world has retreated in anticipation. The “wow” factor heightens, as man and Nature cast a spell of silence. Soon I am off on a boat, making small ripples in the lazy waters that have a good population of trouts. I soak in the cool breeze, as we leave behind a handful of colourful boats along the embankment. The vast amphitheatre of the Western Ghats rises to my line of vision.

Along the reservoir are a few clay licks where the white storks and cranes appear to be frozen in time, standing still. We go around a small green mound in the centre which resembles a mini floating island. Another 500 metres down, on the fringes of the reservoir, are a few stilted huts which seem abandoned, perhaps, by the tribesmen. The youth who oared me to the banks warns me not to go deep inside unaided. He advises I should just touch the brink of life in the jungle and return; he would wait to ferry me back.

Thorn bushes and an abundant jungle of twisting vines catch my legs even as deep piles of fallen leaves and compost make the forest floor springy. What’s next… climbers, shrubs, herbs, orchids, canes, indigenous palms and timbers like the teak, rosewood and vengai. There is a faint chirping, squeaking and rustling sound from somewhere around. Something lurks behind the thicket of trees or clump of bamboos and reeds.

I sense a dramatic confrontation. But nothing happens.

Colourful butterflies hover knee high and scores of unusually long and fat centipedes, or millipedes crawl about. The reddish-orange flowers of the Flame of the Forest (Dhak in Hindi and Purasu in Tamil) trees break the green monotony and set my imagination on fire. I think of paints and brush.

I am glad I made this trip to Pechiparai — the forest, and not the dam.

How to get there: Pechiparai is about 11 km north of Kulasekaram, in Kanyakumari district. It is 45 km from Nagercoil and 75 km from Kanyakumari and falls in Kalkullam Taluk. Permission of the PWD and Forest Department is required.

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