Canolly Plot at Kerala’s Nilambur to get integrated eco-tourism makeover

The Forest department will implement an integrated sustainable development project at the Canolly Plot in the Nilambur north forest division, Forest and Wildlife Minister Shibu Baby John has said.

The project will be prepared using the Forest department funds and the MLA fund of Aryadan Shoukath, following a review of the site’s potential by the Minister, officials, and elected representatives.

The Minister said work on the suspension bridge across the Chaliyar, connecting the two parts of the Canolly Plot, would be expedited. The bridge was destroyed in the 2019 floods. Though Steel Industries Kerala Limited (SILK) was assigned reconstruction work in 2020, it remains incomplete. The Minister directed the company’s chief executive officer to explain the delay.

The Forest department will restore a former veneer factory and staff quarters on the land leased to Kerala State Wood Industries Limited. The land was taken back after the lease expired in 2006 and arrears remained unpaid. The restored facilities will be developed as part of an eco-tourism project with the Kerala Forest Development Corporation.

Situated on both banks of the Chaliyar in the Ramallur Reserve,the Canolly Plot houses one of the world’s largest teak plantations. Established in 1842 by Malabar Collector H.V. Canolly on degraded forest land, the site will be developed to improve visitor facilities while retaining its historical and ecological value.

Aryadan Shoukath, MLA, Nilambur municipal chairperson Padmini Gopinath, vice-chairperson Shoukath Ali Koomanchery, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Pramod G. Krishnan, Chief Conservator of Forests K. Vijayanand, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests K. Karthikeyan, and Divisional Forest Officers P. Dhanesh Kumar and G. Dhaniklal attended the review meeting.