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ECOTOURISM IS THE SOLUTION: IS OVERTOURISM KILLING COORG?

By P.T. Bopanna

There has been much debate among the residents of Kodagu (Coorg) district in Karnataka on the need for restricting tourist footfall as life has “become a hell” for the local community.

Ideally Coorg should become an ecotourism destination as the famous hill station located in the Western Ghats has many scenic tourist spots. Ecotourism is essentially a form of sustainable travel focused on experiencing nature while minimizing the negative impacts on the environment.

I am not against tourism per se as is being advocated by a section as I feel tourism offers opportunities for the local community for revenue generation. While the prospects for coffee cultivation is bright now, the price fluctuation makes it unreliable for making a living in the long run.

Savera Chengappa, who has her roots in Coorg says: “As a Kodavati (Coorg woman), Coorg was losing its charm basically because of these very tourists. It’s a boon that there’s a downward spiral in the influx of tourists to Coorg!”

She was reacting to a report that tourist footfalls have come down this year compared to last year.

Chengapa Mac, a Kodava businessman noted: “Whatever the reason for the decline in tourists footfall in Coorg, it is a blessing in disguise. Since over a decade, tourism increased in leaps and bounds. Cheap tourists who visit Coorg only to enjoy “swine & wine” create havoc drinking on the roads, rash driving and generating humongous amounts of trash. Plantation industry is the backbone of the district and not tourism which is paralysing the ecosystem. Labour problem are the side effects of cheap tourism.”

Karnataka government has failed to curb the growing dangers posed by illegal resorts which have come up in the fragile landscape.

Kodagu district administration has failed to take action against illegal housing layouts mushrooming all over Kodagu.

Marriot, a multinational hotel chain was given permission to build cottages and swimming pools (in picture) at Makkandur village, the epicentre of  2018 landslides.

Ministers sitting in Vidhana Soudha, the seat of state government, have no concern for the ecology and environmental degradation taking place in Coorg, located in the Western Ghats, a UNESCO world heritage site.