SpeakOut#9 - Eye-Openers from Idukki Forest Reserves (3/3)

The Dams in Idukki are signatures of man's power with science at such an early time. From the classes given by our Forest Ranger, I learned that help to built the Idukki Arch Dam was given from the Government of Canada. We were also told that even though the advancement in technology has taken a very vast stride in the past years, at the time of emergency when the shutters of the dam have to be opened, engineers from Canada have to be called to operate the equipment there as the ones in India do not know yet how to operate them. I considered that as a careless remark though.

The Idukki Arch Dam, Cheruthoni Dam and Kulamavu Dam (which lies distant) together created an artifical lake that is 60 square km! (which is a really really huge size for those who aren't bothered by numbers).

Cheruthoni Dam, at a bird's eye view. 

Walk from the Forest Office, Vellapara for around 2-4 kms towards Idukki town, there is a diversion leading to the Hills View Park & Govt Guest House, Idukki. Closing in towards the end of the walk, first, we saw a small monument stating the name of the emissary from Canada who had come and stayed for the construction of the Dams. A training area by the Indian Navy for professional divers is also situated here. Walk a bit more and you can find the entry gate to the Cheruthoni Dam where access is strictly prohibited without permission.

Cheruthoni Dam from within the Artificial Lake

                               
We were in luck as our teachers had already obtained necessary permits to visit the dam. It is a very long walk from that gate where you cover the Cheruthoni Dam and marvel at the structure and view around the artificial lake and then reach the other side of the dam. This leads to the Kuravan Mala* where you've another long walk to the Idukki Arch Dam and then through a tunnel through Kuravathi Mala you can exit out at another side of Idukki. Signs of architecture were seen around these mountains. I had no count on how long that walk was but it was extremely tiring in the heat that day; but it payed off from the sight of power one could see with which the Idukki Arch Dam holds the water. Unfortunately, everywhere there Photography is strictly prohibited.

Myth has it that when Sita was bathing in the river of Periyar, a tribal couple called KuravanKuravathi saw her bathing (not knowing it was a wrong). When Sita saw them, she screamed for help. Lord Rama who came in a fit of rage cursed them to turn into separate mountains for eternity. The KuravanKuravathi couple pleaded innocent and explained and Lord Rama realised the mistake. However since the curse was made, Lord Rama promised them that during KaliYug, they would be united again by man. Although this didn't sound like logic to us in the first case for Sita having made a huge deal out of it, the Idukki Arch Dam which was built between the Kuravan and Kuravathi mountains thus joining them; proved this to become true apparently.

The Kuruvan & Kuravathi Mountains joined by the Idukki Arch Dam.
Picture from www.subups.blogspot.com

If you keep walking without turning for the Cheruthoni Dam Gate, you reach the Hills View Park & Govt. Guest House, Idukki. The view from the Hills View Park (and the Govt. Guest House that border each other) of the Cheruthoni and Idukki Arch Dam is a breathtaker. The Hills View Park is also a great picnic spot for families with a huge pond within it which reminded me of the beach.

View of the Artificial Lake

The view of the Artificial Lake.
At the center, Idukki Arch Dam.
To the left out of sight, Cheruthoni Dam is situated.

Pond within Hills View Park

Government Guest House, Idukki

Note : Mala - Mountain
A detailed official description of these dams can be found at http://www.theindia.info/travel/idukkidam.htm

SpeakOut#7 - Eye-Openers from Idukki Forest Reserves (2/3)

As we came to our place of stay at Vellapara and went in and around the forest at Idukki what we noticed was we couldn't spot any wild animals of any sort except a blue parrot and green spider, but we saw a lot of dried up and burnt shrubs, plants and even trees. At first it didn't click to our slow minds that what we were seeing were huge wounds to an ailing forest. The weather was extremely hot once it was mid-day so it didn't occur to us but later seeing burnt trees at a lot of places, it hit me like a brick on my head that this could only be man-made. Suddenly the reason why all the signboards and constant repetitions to fight against forest fires dawned upon me. Forest Fires are 90% man made!
A talk with our Forest Ranger in charge enlightened us on the situation of how ignorant people set fire to these areas for personal purposes to try bring around some kind of cultivation or to protest against the authorities for wrong reasons. Another sad thing I realised was that this problem wasn't confined just here but everywhere.

Peermade, another beautiful hill range in Idukki that borders Kottayam (i.e. where I come from) is one of the picturesque beauties where we camped for a week last December as part of the NSS activities. Even there one morning, we spotted a fire but I thought that it was done on private land so it didn't bother me much, but then I realised from Vellapara that the situation was all same around and  that land was not private.

What these people do not realise is that they're setting fire to human lives along with this, maybe not directly on themselves but to their children who will suffer later from a weak and dying environment that has lost its ties with man. The Keralite's disinterest in involving with nature is already seen by the dependency on Tamil Nadu's vegetable and fruit produce. After the MullaPeriyar problem however the warning bells sounded loud and clear and even I have started working a bit in the backyard with my father at times who loves tending to his land in his spare time.

Anyways, back to the Reserves, it isn't that all is lost at Idukki. It still keeps its beauty despite the damage, with the variety in landscapes and trees and waters held around. It is a sight from heaven when you're there early morning. At the end of our stay, we were asked if anything caught our attention here and what we could do for nature. My answer was the Dams and the Forest Fires and that I'm not the activist who could run around demanding changes but I can help make people aware from the contacts I have and the media I use to interact with people. Word of Mouth and the Internet.

SpeakOut#4 - Stay at the Idukki Forest Reserves

The place where we stayed for this visit was at the Forest Office's Educational Centre at Vellapara, Idukki built for students like us who come to learn from the place. It was very simple, neat and nice place with two big rooms for accommodating the visitors 'male' and 'female' and a hall for lectures, classes and movies on nature. The kitchen was kept outside and so was the dining area which made the dining part of our visit entertaining with our jokes around and letting us view the landscape around while eating. These were basically the places of our main interest at our place of stay. One can see the Cheruthoni Dam from where we stayed.

The one thing unusual to us were the early morning trips to the terrace to do Yoga.  The main officer in charge of the Forest Office there made it a must that everyone who came there had to involve in Yoga to realise the grand experience that relaxes your body and does the repair and maintenance of your body.

However that was of no interest to quite some lazybums like me. I didn't quit the practise anyhow.

I can say proudly I loved the asana where you lie on your stomach just like how you sleep and snore on your bed in a cold morning hearing the birds chirp and the smell of the dirt on the land which comes when it goes moist from the morning dew.

SpeakOut#3 - Eye-openers from the Idukki Forest Reserves (1/3)

Around the end of February this year, the group of students including those from the NSS (a student organisation) and Zoology students from our College went for a Nature Camp to Idukki, Kerala.
I've been to Idukki many times but this trip made me realise that the places there where I've been to were merely the sides to it and there then I saw the centre of it.
Idukki has a huge part of Kerala's forest reserves, lying in the Western Ghats. Although on the way, you can see some of it, abandoning the road and going into the green side will only help you actually see the forest, its huge untouched haven of life that resonates peace and a prize to watch a lot of things beautiful move around with life which you cannot do without keeping silence. The Western Ghats as a whole is a breathtaker!

Photography by NA Naseer.
https://www.facebook.com/naNaseer

Another good thing to watch out in Idukki is its dams. Idukki has a lot of dams that hold the waters of Kerala that power up our state, and also feed another. It was these dams that actually caught my attention the most from this trip.
What look like natural reservoirs are actually manmade structures that not just hold water from a very vast area stretching around kilometres but create power from it that benefits millions of people. The MullaPeriyar Dam, Idukki Dam and Cheruthoni Dam are the prime from these dams which are actually the current topic for talk amongst common people, activists and governments. About that, I'll explain another time.

Idukki Dam sight from Hills View Park, Idukki