The bane of Kodagu

Kodagu, a popular tourist destination nestled in the picturesque Western Ghats, was ravaged by heavy monsoon floods and landslides recently. The damage caused to the district can to a large extent be blamed on the unregulated growth in tourism, which has led to increased vehicular population, deforestation, and pollution of water bodies.

The problem would not have arisen if there had been a sustainable tourism policy, which establishes a suitable balance between the environmental, economic and socio-cultural aspects.

The district, whose primarily source of income is from coffee plantations, also developed into a tourist destination after a major hotel property was established in the mid-1990s. It put Kodagu on the national tourist map. Earning the epithet ‘Kashmir of the South’, Kodagu is the source of the Cauvery River at Bhagamandala. The Nagarahole Wildlife Sanctuary is another major tourist attraction in the district.

Additional income

Once Kodagu began to emerge as a popular tourist destination, the proprietary planters realised the business potential, considering especially their district’s proximity to Bengaluru.

To supplement their plantation income, they started home stays to accommodate tourists. Around the mid-1990s, Bengaluru also emerged as India’s Silicon Valley and saw IT professionals from across the country re-locate to the State capital.

For most of them, Kodagu became an ideal destination for a short holiday. This influx of tourists from Bengaluru and elsewhere saw the mushrooming of home stays in the district.

Over time, people from neighbouring districts/States also started moving in, adding to population pressure on Kodagu. Accommodating new entrants meant felling trees to build houses.

According to a research paper published in 2015, titled ‘ Socio-Economic and Environmental Impact of Tourism in Kodagu District: A Case Study ’ by Shivaraju HP and Anil Kumar KM, “A survey confirmed considerable impact of tourism on ecologically diverse areas like Pushpagiri, Mandalpatti, Dubhare Elephant Camp and Nagarahole National Park. The most crucial impact observed in those eco-zone areas were disposing of plastic wastes and their accumulation which further restrict the habitation of endemic and endangered species.” Evidently, both coffee plantations and home-stay tourism are necessary for the prosperity of Kodagu. Yet, this has to take into account environmental considerations and sustainability issues. Coffee planters have their own requirements, of chopping trees in their plantations to keep maintenance costs low. The Kasturirangan panel report on the Western Ghats has acknowledged the contribution of coffee cultivation to conservation.

Therefore, the tourism strategy should aim at high-end tourists with strong spending power rather than droves of backpackers who mess up the environment. Such high-impact tourists, though low in number, help boost local incomes. To that extent, stakeholders such as travel companies, hotels, the local community, NGOs and the State government need to formulate a sustainable tourism strategy. Meanwhile, seismologists and geologists are trying to ascertain what triggered the destructive floods in Kodagu district.

Chengappa and Varghese teach International Relations and Tourism, respectively, at CHRIST Deemed to be University, Bengaluru.

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