The Hindu Business Line : Decks cleared for Kerala Tourism's eco-initiative

The decks have been cleared for the implementation of Kerala Tourism's `Eco-Kerala' eco certification scheme. Orders have been issued for constituting district-level committees to carry out the inspections required to implement the scheme, said Mr T.P. Narayanan Kutty, Director, Eco-tourism, Kerala Government.

The committees in each district will inspect properties and send their report to the State-level committee for awarding the certification based on a property's adherence to various guidelines.

Managed by Kerala's Eco-tourism Department, the voluntary Eco-Kerala certification scheme is intended to grade hotels, resorts and homestays based on their adherence to various eco-friendly systems and practices. The certification scheme will grade applicants based on their compliance with three set of conditions — essential, necessary and desirable.

`Classification'

Essential conditions include display of water conservation messages in rooms, use of energy saving methods and equipment, purchase of produce from local farms and so on.

Environmental audits, posting of designated officials for environment management, adoption of rainwater harvesting, use of wastewater treatment and so on are some of the necessary conditions, while measures such as use of organic fertilisers and use of local building material are some of the desirable conditions.

Properties will be awarded a level of classification based on the extent to which they fulfil the essential, necessary and desirable conditions. Hotels, resorts and homestays that meet all three sets of conditions will be classified as `diamond members' of the Eco-Kerala scheme, while those that meet the essential and necessary conditions will be classified as `club members'.

More Stories on : Tourism | Environment | Kerala

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