With mercury falling to around five degree Celsius, another winter season has arrived in Munnar.
The lowest temperature of so far this season was recorded on Sunday with the temperature dropping to 6 degree Celsius at Nallathanni, Mattupetty and Chokkanad while the remote plantation areas of Thenmala, Chenduvarai, Gundumalai and Lakshmi recorded 4o Celsius.
The lowest temperature recorded on Tuesday was Nallathanni 11o C, Chenduvarai 10o C and Mattupetty 11o C. The increase in the lowest temperature level on Tuesday was attributed to the depression in the Bay of Bengal. The temperature has been slowly falling
for a week, according to the weather data at different stations in Munnar.
From T.N. too
With the destination reopening, there has been an increase in visitors to Munnar, especially on weekends. According to tourism stakeholders, tourists prefer one-day trips and return the same day. There has been an increase in the number of visitors from Tamil Nadu, a sign that interstate travellers have started arriving in Munnar.
Winter is the busiest season in Munnar and the tourists, especially foreigners, reach here from December to February. “The mercury dips to the lowest during the first week of January and many visitors prefer to visit Munnar when there is light to moderate snowfall,” said an official of the District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) at Munnar. He said the majority of the visitors now were from north Kerala, in addition to those from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The tourists preferred short stays and some of the hotels had an occupancy of 50%, he added. With a blanket of frost covering the tea plantations, more people would arrive, he said.
Main spots
The main tourism spots in Munnar are Rajamala in Eravikulam National Park, Mattuppetty and Kundala dams, Top Station, Echo Point, tea museums and Attukal and Lakkam waterfalls. Tourists also visit the dolmens and rock art in Marayur and vegetable farming in Kanthallur or Vattavada nearby.
The snowy mountain scape is the most attractive view in Munnar. The DTPC officials said that there had been a change in the season of the lowest temperature for the past few years. Munnar used to experience the lowest temperature in the first or second week of January. However, in 2019, the sub-zero temperature was
recorded in February end and the first week of March.
Rajamala Range officer Job J. Neriyamparambil said that there was a clear sign of tourism returning to normalcy in Munnar. He said that nearly 1,500 people visited Rajamala on the weekends. On Monday and Tuesday, the number of tourists who visited Rajamala was 749 and 650 respectively.
