A caution sounded by the Forest Department against permitting vehicles through forest routes was disregarded and this resulted in the Pulmedu stampede, forest officials said on Sunday.
The authorities had successfully enforced a ban on vehicles through the forest routes some four years ago for the safety of pilgrims.
The Kerala Forest Department will suggest a ban on vehicular traffic through forest routes and restrictions on pilgrims' inflow into the Sabarimala temple in the wake of the Pulmedu accident that claimed 102 lives, informed sources said.
The vehicular traffic along the hardly five-metre-wide forest route to Pulmedu shot up on days close to Makaravilakku, which fell on January 14.
The spot where the stampede that claimed over 100 lives has been a traditional forest trekking path used mostly by devotees from Tamil Nadu to reach the hillshrine of Lord Ayyaappa.
The area is known as 'pulmedu' as it is a large stretch of grassland in Periyar Wildlife Reserve on the steps of the Western Ghats.
The trekking route is a short-cut for pilgrims from places like Cumbon, Theni an
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Madhavan Pillai Foundation for Conservation has selected G Kannan, a forest watcher at Periyar Tiger Reserve in Thekkady, for the Madhavan Pillai Conservation Award-2011 instituted by the Foundation.
Addressing a news conference here on Friday, Balan Madhavan, director of the Foundation, said that Kannan, who has been serving as an anti-poaching watcher and speed boat d
Tourism packages to be integrated with conservation
Draft of the project prepared by KFRI
KATTAPPANA: The Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) is preparing a 10-year conservation plan that focuses on conservation of wildlife and ecology and sustained growth of ecotourism in support of the local tribal community.
Report submitted to Union Ministry for Environment
Seeks proper maintenance of elephant corridors
KOCHI: The Elephant Task Force has recommended the acquisition of defunct estates in the heart of the elephant habitat in the Periyar-Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) for the conservation and protection of the elephant population.
Forest officers of Tamil Nadu, Kerala to share intelligence on poaching
THENI: Joint patrolling, sharing of intelligence, including information on poaching, and creation of more eco-development committees on Tamil Nadu border are the measures to be taken up for protection of tigers in the Periyar Tiger Reserve (PTR) at Thekkadi in Kerala.
The southern Western Ghats tropical montane cloud forest sites (Gavi, Periyar, High wavys and Venniyar), which are characterized by frequent or seasonal cloud cover at the vegetation level, are considered one of the most threatened ecosystems in India and the world.
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday declined to entertain an application by Tamil Nadu challenging the permission granted by the Central government to Kerala to conduct a survey and investigation in the Periyar Tiger Reserve area for the possible construction of a new dam in place of the controversial Mullaperiyar dam.
The survey for a new dam in Mullaperiyar began on Monday amid a war of words between Kerala and Tamil Nadu over the legitimacy of the venture. The survey for the new dam had in fact started in 2007 itself and the fresh survey is only being conducted in the areas coming under Periyar Tiger Reserve with the permission of the Union environment ministry.
