Major ecotourism centres in Wayanad are getting ready to welcome tourists after a two-month break, thanks to the summer showers in the forest areas of the district.
The Muthanga and the Tholpetty ecotourism centres in the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary reopened on Monday and the Sentinel Rock waterfalls and the Chembra peak in the South Wayanad forest division would be reopened by the end of this week, forest officials said.
Wildfire, migration
The ecotourism centres under the sanctuary had been closed for tourists since February 21 owing to the dry weather and the annual migration of wild animals from the adjacent Nagarahole and Bandipur national parks in Karnataka and the Mudumalai tiger reserve in Tamil Nadu.
The centres under the South Wayanad forest division have been closed since March 15 owing to forest-fire threat.
Most parts of the sanctuary, except Tholpetty, have got good summer rain, ensuring the availability of fodder for migrating animals, says P. Dhanesh Kumar, warden of the sanctuary. The rain also lessened the chances of wildfire.
Though hundreds of hectares of forestland had been destroyed in wildfire in the adjacent tiger reserves in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, no major fire was reported in the forest areas of the district this season, thanks to the timely measures adopted by the sanctuary officials.
Best time
Summer is the best time to visit the sanctuary as it offers a safe haven for elephants, wild buffaloes, and deer from the adjacent sanctuaries during the period.
Owing to the lack of department vehicles, the sanctuary authorities have permitted 28 taxi-jeeps in Muthanga and 40 jeeps at Tholpetty to conduct 60 trips a day. They charge ₹675 a trip, including entrance fee of the vehicle to the centre.
Limited trips
As the number of trips has been restricted to 60, many tourists do not get a chance to go on safari, a major attraction of the destination.
