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August 20, 1997 |
Ecotourism faces flak at PeriyarVenu MenonIt's called Garden Retreat. Quiet, upmarket, set in the lush wilderness. It has all the comforts of a luxurious hotel, being a collaborative effort of the Taj group and the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation. And it is now is caught in the crossfire between the forest department, the tourism department and the conservationists.
The Taj claims the project, being set up on the fringes of the Periyar Tiger Reserve, is eco-friendly. Hectic construction activity is in progress so that the hotel is complete in time for Queen Elizabeth's visit to Kerala in October. She is slated to be the hotel's first celebrity guest. It is a war with no winners. At stake is the enormous tourist revenue which has turned the reserve into a moneyspinner for the KTDC, which runs three hotels within the sanctuary, the biggest being the Lake Palace, which provides luxury accommodation for an international clientele. Even this jewel in the KTDC's crown has problems. The KTDC had leased the palace from the forest department 25 years ago. The forest department is uncertain whether to renew the lease that expired last year on the grounds that a luxury hotel in the heart of the sanctuary is detrimental to wildlife preservation. Even as that controversy rages, the KTDC and the Taj group are going full steam ahead with the Garden Retreat. The Taj group has a stake of 40 per cent in the project and KTDC, 20 per cent. The remaining 40 per cent is earmarked as public equity, which is yet to be issued. The 12-member director board of the joint venture company includes three Kerala government officials, six representatives of the Taj group and three other nominees. The hotel is a four-star affair and covers 3.6 acres, over which are spread 16 cottages mounted on stilts. To assuage conservationists, the hotel boasts a novel sewage treatment system that ensures the hotel's effluents don't go into the Periyar river. But the forest department is more worried that the hotel will have a negative impact on the sanctuary. It fears that the KTDC and the Taj group will use their clout to try and ply more boats, thus disrupting the forest environment. Forest officials point out that the Garden Retreat brochure promises treks to restricted areas such as the controversial Mangladevi Temple. At present, the temple gates are padlocked to keep off the public. Says a forest ranger: "Let the Taj hotel advertise what it wants. The decision to allow people anywhere near the temple rests with us." The hotel is also a short distance from the Chekliya colony, the vice den of Kumili town bordering Periyar. "The people there see the hotel as an opportunity to make money. Prostitution will go up. More men will take up pimping as a vocation," a forest official forecast gloomily. But the biggest threat now to the hotel is the power struggle between the tourism and forest departments. Forest officials seek total control over all activities within the reserve, including the movement of tourists. But the tourism department argues that marketing a destination, bringing in tourists and providing accommodation are best handled by the tourism department. "Tourists and animals are not the same," says KTDC Managing Director Ashish Kumar Singh. Maybe. The issue now seems to be only about which gets priority.
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