Thursday, September 2, 2010

Journey to the valley of silence


It was a trip planned at very short notice (as always) when we decided to go to silent valley. Though the name “Silent Valley” was quite familiar to me, courtesy media hype regarding the proposed controversial hydro electric project, all my efforts to visit the place in the past went in vain due to some reason or the other. It took a call from my cousin, asking me about my plans for the weekend, to arouse my silent valley spirits again and I told him to be ready for a trip next day to the valley and even poked two of my uncles for the trip. We could arrange a reservation at the Forest Inspection Bungalow (IB) at Mukkali as we got relevant information from the internet.
After lunch from my home at Cochin, we four (my two uncles, cousin and I) set off to Silent Valley. Along the much improved NH43 (than when I traveled last) we reached Palakkad by 4 PM and after refreshments continued our journey through NH 213 to Mannarkkad. From Mannarkkad Junction we took the road towards right leading to Mukkali. We reached Mukkali at 6 PM, checked into our room reserved in the Mukkali Forest IB. It was quite
surprising to meet a large group from ISAC, Astro Physics Group with their family at IB who were taking rest after a visit to the core area of the forest for the day. All of us had a quite refreshing bath in the river Bhavani flowing near
the IB and had dinner from the local tea shop. The night at Mukkali IB was filled with music of the river flowing near the bungalow and occasional songs of birds and cicada!!
Next day morning we were ready to explore the core forest area of Silent Valley. Our ISAC friends had chosen a soft trek in the buffer area of the forest for the day. Since we couldn’t afford to miss the core area of renowned valley we preferred to hire a jeep and proceeded to the forest by 8.00 a.m. Our tour guide Nasser was quite talkative and kept pouring information about the valley and its history.The “Silent Valley” was referred so by the British,appropriate to the absence of cicada in the forest during early years when they explored the valley. The rain forest of the valley said to be dated back to 50 million years and is home for large number of endangered species including the Lion tailed Macaque and Nilgiri Tahr. The valley got the media attention when Pathrakadavu hydro electric project was sanctioned in the core area of the valley exploiting the water resources from Kunthi river. The project raised protests from the naturalists who finally succeeded forcing the government to set aside the project and declare the area as national park.
The 45 minutes long jeep journey from IB ended near the watch tower at the proposed dam site of the Pathrakadavu project. The watch tower offered a breath taking view of the Kunthi river also called the Sairandri. River at the proposed dam site is accessible by walk along a 2km long muddy path. An antique hanging bridge was in view at the dam site though entry to the bridge was prohibited. The river was muddy and a little wild since it was raining heavily for last 2 days.
After spending some time near river side wecame back to the watch tower. The museum operated by the forest department, provided essential information about the flora and fauna of valley and also about the geography of the
national park. By 2 p.m. we returned back to the IB with watchful eyes on the forest, eager to spot wild life. We were lucky enough to spot a troop of lion tailed macaques, monkeys, wild squirrels and birds.
With ever green memories and a handful of wonderful snaps in my camera, we bid adieu to the valley by 3pm after a late lunch from a local hotel with hope of revisiting the valley.
Rooms can be reserved at the Forest Inspection Bungalow of the Silent Valley by contacting the Wild life warden, Silent valley division in the address given below. A fax to the office of Wild life warden and a few phone calls for confirming the availability of the rooms to the Assistant wild life warden will be sufficient. Forest department also arranges a number of soft and hard core treks through the forests for those who are interested in walking through the forest.
The tribal colony of Attapady is nearby and those interested can have a visit to the colonies too. A number of private resorts also are functioning in the area for those who prefer it over the local shops and minimal stay at IB

Assistant Wildlife Warden,
Silent Valley National Park Range
Mukkali, Palakkad, Kerala, India
PIN: 678582
Tel: 04924 - 253225

Wildlife Warden,
Silent Valley Division
Mannarkkad, Palakkad, Kerala,
India
PIN: 678582
Tel: 04924 - 222056

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