The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu forest department to limit daily visitors to the Pykara Lake boat house in Udhagamandalam and permanently stopped mechanised boating on the lake, citing ecological concerns and petroleum hydrocarbon contamination along the boating route.
A special bench comprising Justice N Sathish Kumar and Justice G K Muthukumaar issued the directions while hearing a batch of forest and environment-related pleas concerning conservation in the hill station. One of the pleas sought to declare the Western Ghats a Special Eco-Sensitive Zone.
The court ordered the forest department to assess the lake’s carrying capacity, prescribe a daily visitor limit, introduce prior booking for entry and notify the activities and timings permitted at the site. It also prohibited amplified music, artificial lighting, picnics and food stalls in and around the Pykara Lake boat house area.
The bench said only activities notified by the forest department could be conducted at the site. It also barred new construction on the lake banks, allowing only buildings that already existed at the time of the order. The restrictions place visitor management and development control with the forest department, while requiring tourism operations to follow an approved ecological framework.
The court recommended that the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation permit lake viewing from the bank and boat house, guided nature walks along fixed paths conducted by the forest department, and interpretation programmes covering the forest, the hydel scheme and Toda heritage of the area.
It further directed that boating operations be restricted to rowboats, pedal boats or electric boats with low-power motors or no-wake speeds. The court had earlier imposed an interim ban on mechanised boats, and made that prohibition permanent in the latest order.
The directions followed a report filed by the Central Soil and Water Conservation Research, Demonstration and Training Institute of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. According to the report, petroleum hydrocarbons in the water along the boating route were far above the permitted limit, while water along the banks was nearly free of the contaminants. The report stated that the water did not meet the required standard and that the contamination followed the path used by boats.
The order links tourism capacity, boating technology, construction controls and cultural interpretation to the ecological management of a hill-station destination. It also shifts the focus from unrestricted visitor activity to carrying-capacity assessment and advance regulation of access. The court has adjourned the matter to December 4 for the filing of further status reports.
