Why has the Karnataka government decided to make online booking mandatory for trekking trails Premium

Come long weekends or holidays, there is a rush at almost all trekking trails of Karnataka, leading to ecological consequences. This has compelled the government to come up with some regulations

Karnataka is home to some of the tallest peaks in South India and there has been an increase in the number of people who are taking up trekking expeditions.  

With this increase, there have also been repeated discussions about ecological concerns among environmentalists. Taking note of this, after two major incidents this year – one of over a thousand people gathering near Kumara Parvatha in the Western Ghats in January and around 5,000 people visiting the peaks in Chikkamagaluru in a weekend in June – Forest and Ecology Minister Eeshwar Khandre announced that online booking would be mandatory for all trekking activities henceforth.  

It was chaos at the entry point of Kumara Parvatha, in Dakshina Kannada district on January 26 (Republic Day) this year, as along with 954 people who had tickets to scale the hill, around a thousand more trekking enthusiasts showed up hoping to get tickets. 

Kumara Parvatha is located in the ecologically fragile Pushpagiri Wildlife Sanctuary in the Western Ghats. The consequence of so many people assembling at this sensitive zone resulted in a trail of plastic bags, bottles and leftover food that littered the forest area. Environmentalists and regular trekkers were up in arms after this incident and demanded action from the government. Khandre assured them that a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) would be put in place and trekking would be banned on the route until the SOP was released.  

Similarly, in the third weekend of June, 5,000 visitors gathered in Chikkamagaluru to visit the popular Mullayyanagiri and Etthina Bhuja peaks in the district. This also raised concerns about the ecological damage these hills will face due to a footfall which goes way beyond its carrying capacity.  

As many as 18 trekking trails in the State fall under Karnataka Eco Tourism Board (KEDB), founded in 2013. The Board maintains 10 trails in Bengaluru including Savandurga and Skandagiri, two trails in Chikkamagaluru and five in Belagavi. 

Currently, online booking exisits for all these 18 trails on the website Karnatakaecotourism.com. There are 100–350 slots reserved every day for each trail depending on it carrying capacity.