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Hi,

Read Binand's earlier post on Handpost - Mananthavady - Kuttiaydi - Clicut route. I had taken it last year while returning from Calicut and found it very stress-free. Thinking of opting for this. Hope this won't lead to too much loss of time...I can take a 15-20 min delay in reaching Calicut.

Cheers

Vindy

For me, door-to-door both routes (Ch. Nagar-Bathery & Mysore-Mananthavady) take approximately the same time.

Though, from Mananthavady you should go Kalpetta-Thamarassery rather than Kuttiady-Perambra. The latter roads are very narrow and have several traffic bottlenecks. Again, the distances are roughly similar.

Edit: Did anyone notice the coverage of the meeting between the CMs of KA and KL yesterday, regarding the withdrawal of the night travel ban? The KA CM did not agree to that, so they have decided to have a committee examine the additional/alternative proposals (two were mentioned: reduce the ban time to be between 10 PM and 5 AM, and increase the number of buses allowed to pass through during the ban hours).

The KL CM's point is that since farm and poultry produce for Wayanad is procured from KA, the night traffic ban affects trade. Which makes me wonder, in all these years the ban has been in place, what exactly has the KL government done to increase farm and poultry produce within the district itself? Does "nothing" sounds about right?

Edit2: Link - http://www.thehindu.com/news/nationa...cle7105250.ece

Another suggestion was to allow one convoy of 25 vehicles. Don't know if this was to be done during the night hours, or as a last and final sprint for the day before the closing time. KL has been trying to get the ban lifted completely or kind of water it down so that it becomes ineffective. To be brutally honest, I feel KL has shown zero interest in some thing known as "wild life protection" or "animal welfare". It has always been - "wild animals can go take a hike, I want to use the forest the way I please". KA CM how ever seems to be not very keen (or confident) on lifting the ban. I guess there are multiple agencies (even Central agencies) which may get involved here. Animal right activists for sure are to fight till their last man if the ban gets lifted.

BTW, did we notice that an alternate route is now fully operational. Earlier KL Govt's complaint was that no proper alternate routes were provided. The Hunsur-Gonikoppal-Kutta-Tholpetty route has been completely re-laid and made in an excellent condition. This too was reported by the media. Now that an alternative is provided the new complaint/whine from Kerala Government is that this route takes three hours more than the one through Bandipur. Again and again, Kerala government seems to be just pushing for deals which are one-sided (and only favours KL).

There was a small news item which I chanced to see yesterday. Generally I avoid watching TV during the prime time (the serials and reality shows just riles me up). KL traders procure even vegetables from KA, at prices like Rs.11/kg. This is sold in KL for prices like Rs.40/kg!!! So looks like the state has no means of survival and has to depend on pretty much any thing on neighbouring states. Kerala as a state needs to get into a self-sustenance mode. Or else it would have tough time dealing with all sorts of laws set by other neighbouring states. Today as a I see it, the state has nothing to offer but has 1000s of demands from others. Not a good thing, IMHO.

How are the chances of small time farming in Kerala (say in a 2 acre land)?

Viable only if the farm is small enough and you're willing to work on the farm yourselves. Labour is hard to find - most of the labour force in our place in Wayanad is imported from villages around Gundlupet, and even that is a dwindling resource in peak seasons.

Not to mention that fact that if you import labour, you have to pay the local trade unions "നോക്കുകൂലി" (nokku kooli - literally, wages for watching) at prevalent rates in addition to the actual wages you pay your labourers. Ditto for using mechanized farming equipment (harvest machines etc.). Especially in central/south-central Kerala.

And in case you wish to bail out for any reason and unlock the value in your land holding, converting agricultural land to one that is suitable for commercial development is a process fraught with corruption.

Though highly fictionalized, watching the movie "Evidam Swargamanu" ("This Place is Heaven") might help too.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evidam_Swargamanu

More updates on the "Ban @ Bandipur"
Mathrubhumi English news report - Night travel ban in Bandipur: Decision within two months
Reading between the lines, I feel Karnataka CM is not interested in lifting the ban and he is just down grading the priority of this whole move.
Mathrubhumi Malayalam report - The ban to stay
Mathrubhumi Malayalam report - Karnataka based environmentalists dead against lifting the ban

The two Malayalam reports give a more pro-Kerala tilt to the whole thing. It is clearly trying to prove the point that animal life be damned, Kerala's demands have to be met. English report (from the same news paper) is more neutral.

I think the 3 hours more statement is completely wrong. The route is 30 km longer and now with the condition being good, it should at most take one hour more.

I have traveled several times in the Kallada Volvo to Calicut that takes the Gonikoppa-Kutta route. This bus used to leave kalasipalayam between 9.30-10 and reach Calicut by 6. And this was when there were several bad stretches on the route.

Even though I may be labelled anti-Kerala (when I am basically from there), I feel there is some thing really fishy in this whole thing. Kerala government has been consistent on making demands which would cause havoc to forest and wild life. Another of their crazy plans is to build railway lines from Nilambur to Nanjangud. Again through mountains and dense forest areas, with wild animals. Don't know what is the real problem out here.

This one especially puts the entire blame on those "pesky environmentalists from Karnataka". They should use this as an example of biased writing in journalism colleges. :-)

Indeed. An hour, at worst (more like 30-45 minutes, I'd say). This is an example of the exaggeration of the problem. Along same lines of "Wayanad is facing severe vegetable shortage" and the like.

Sacrilege. I'm sure that GoKL has nothing but the well-being of the people of Kerala at heart; that real estate and resorts business do not enter into the picture at all. Prof. Madhav Gadgil is an environmental terrorist and a foreign agent. Western Ghats is a roadblock to Kerala's progress and needs to be razed down.

I am a frequent traveller between Bangalore and Calicut and this night travel ban significantly inconveniences me; but still I support it - because I truly believe that the first claim on the forest is for the animals. If the KL government had been proactive, then they'd have been monitoring the forest routes for drunk and unruly driving and other types of menaces and generally protecting the fauna - I haven't ever seen a single patrol on NH 212 in my years of driving through the forest. People behave as though it is their own backyard, in the forest. Some people think it is funny to let the monkeys share their beer cans, even.

That proposed railway line is Nilambur-Bathery-Gundlupet-Nanjangud, and cuts through the forest only along the existing NH 212 alignment between Muthanga and Madhur. Still not desirable, but not as drastic either.

There is also the aspect of financial viability. Best thing for the Railways to do is to pass the buck to the state government. Let KL state get the environmental clearance, and also bear 70% of the track laying costs. Once the tracks are ready and trains start running, the profit or loss also would be shared with the state on the same basis. If it is a profit KL gets 70% of it, if it is loss state can pay the railways 70% of the loss.

I came back from the trip. Onward, I started by 11.30 PM from Bangalore via Mysore - Hunsur-Gonikoppal-Kutta-Mananthavady-Kalpetta, reached Kalpetta by 5.30 AM. Road was excellent throughout.
While coming back I started from 4 PM from Kalpetta. Route taken was Mananthavady-Bavali-Mysore-Bangalore. and reached bangalore by 11.30 PM. Again, the roads are excellent throughout.

Thanks for the update. Looks like the Kutta-Gonikoppal route is finally a viable option for night drives.

Karnataka says that it has put in around 73 crores to upgrade the Kutta-Gonikoppal road. This was mentioned when the Kerala CM had met Karnataka CM last week.

Planning Blore - Calicut trip over the weekend.

What I could gather from recent posts is that the optimum route (based on current road conditions) is Blore - Mysore Ring Road - Mananthavady Road (SH-33) - Handpost - Bavalli - Mananthavady - Kuttiady - Calicut. Pls advise.

Spot on, but remember that the Bangalore - Mysore stretch is time-sensitive, particularly since it is a long weekend. A very early start from Bangalore is recommended (4 AM ish).

Also remember that amenities are scarce or nonexistent between Mysore and Mananthavady.