COIMBATORE: It would seem that the trekking ban imposed by the state government after the Kurangani forest fire deaths has come as a dampener for adventure clubs and their activities.
But, adventure clubs in the city say there was a sharp increase in number of requests to organise a trek or other adventures activities this year.
“Despite the Kurangani incident has a huge impact on people, many college students and IT professionals has been approaching us to organise treks. In the past two months, there were some 500 requests, which is at least 10% higher than last year,” said managing director of adventurous trekking club M Dhinesh Kumar.
With the ban in place, the clubs refuse trekking and have started focusing on other adventure activities like water sports, long drives through forest in jeeps, safari and camping in tree houses.
“There has been about 10-20% increase in number of people enrolling for such activities,” said
Ramesh Kutty of Coimbatore trekking club.
With the ban in
Tamil Nadu and tighter trekking norms in Kerala, many avid trekkers have started to go to
Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, said AS Thileep, another organiser. “Adventures activities, mainly trekking, are addictive and once you start enjoying them, you would never want to stop,” said M Vishnu Vardhan, a software engineer, who treks twice every month.
On the other hand, the organisers said requests from families to organise adventure activities had come down. “The requests are mostly from individuals below 30 years,” said an organiser.
Meanwhile, state government officials remain silent on reopening of trekking routes - Yelagiri hills, Kurangani hills, Velliangiri hills,
Kothagiri and Avalanche in Ooty - preferred by the trekkers in the district.
