Marooned in Munnar

Right now Munnar is savouring its annual, and much needed, respite from tourists due to the onset of the southwest monsoon whose fury tends ...

Right now Munnar is savouring its annual, and much needed, respite from tourists due to the onset of the southwest monsoon whose fury tends to scare away outsiders. The hill-resort sports a freshly scrubbed look thanks to the cleansing downpours. Its placid streams have become raging torrents, its waterfalls are awesome and its tea gardens are lush.

Inevitably, the monsoon brings in its wake landslides, road-blocks and flooding; the locals, however, stoically weather these hazards. But what taxes their tolerance to the point of snapping is the nuisance caused by inconsiderate tourists.

For instance, on June 5, World Environment Day, local students dutifully cleaned up the town and its environs. That very day a large group of tourists brazenly littered a road with disposable cups and plates after an alfresco meal. The significance of the day meant little to them and unfortunately they got away scot-free.

A few years ago muddy water in one8217;s tap meant wild elephants were frolicking upstream; today it8217;s usually due to tourists attending to their ablutions 8212; and polluting the water supply in the process. Further, having spent the night in a vehicle, some mornings tourists can be seen brushing their teeth, hawking and washing their faces right on the town8217;s main road! Some even cook their food on the roadside, blithely littering the area. They do believe in making themselves at home wherever they go.

Time was when one could stroll through Munnar8217;s tea fields in absolute solitude and commune with nature, undisturbed. Today even the remotest corners of the hill-station are overrun by loud-mouthed tourists with little regard for nature. In fact, some nosey tourists have accessed a few hitherto unexplored parts of Munnar 8212; mostly virgin wildlife habitats 8212; and mapped these for the benefit of others! These intrusions have driven wildlife further afield, making sightings infrequent. Wildlife viewing, incidentally, used to be one of Munnar8217;s main attractions.

Another irritant is the ridiculously large buses tourists bring in 8212; the ultimate in luxury and, apparently, a status symbol for them. These behemoths create frequent traffic bottlenecks in the town8217;s narrow and congested roads. Given the volume of traffic, it8217;s a miracle that accidents are not common.

Ecologically and environmentally sensitive as it is, Munnar desperately needs disciplined and responsible tourists more than anything else to survive.