Forest watchers will be in full strength around Munnar in Idukki district, where the hills and valleys of Mattupetty, Kundala, Thenmala, and Devikulam are aflame with the purple-blue neelakurunji in bloom. Forest Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan on Friday directed his department to deploy more guards and watchers in the areas where the flower is in bloom to see that visitors do not destroy the plants, taking home souvenirs. Following a heavy influx of visitors to the region to see neelakurunji ( Strobilanthes kunthiana ), which flowers only in 12 or more years, there have been complaints about destruction of the plant. There are several species of the plant growing around Munnar that follow different cycles, lighting up one area or the other almost annually. This time, the flowering is at Mattupetty, Kundala, Thenmala, and Devikulam.
