Kerala is in the middle of a vast building boom and all that concrete needs sand. A lot of that sand is being sourced illegally from the Nila’s banks. I look out of my window here and see, not a peaceful river view, but a bunch of clunky construction trucks and dozers on the far bank, systematically grinding and scooping the shore away. I presume (from the amount of machinery) that this is a legal mining operation but unfortunately there are many more shady endeavours that are ripping away the banks unchecked.
It’s not hard to see why local people get involved. If your average wage was 250 rupees per day and you were suddenly offered the chance to earn 1500, you’d take it wouldn’t you. But this slow plundering of the river’s resources is reducing the once sprawling Nila to little more than a puddle in some places. And it’s not just illegal sand-mining: upriver deforestation and converting paddy fields to grow cash-crops are all playing their part in the rivers degeneration.
In ancient times the river was considered a divine being; now it’s a commodity to be exploited. But there’s always hope. I’m travelling with The Blue Yonder, the tour company arm of The Nila Foundation. The foundation was set up to help regenerate the river and raise awareness of the environmental problems the Nila faces with local people.
To raise the funds needed to do this they turned to tourism as a means of not just creating cash-flow for their projects but also as a way of promoting the Nila and the fascinating cultural heritage that has sprung from its banks. It’s an interesting concept and I want to find out if Ken Haley can be proved wrong when he stated “Responsible travel, what’s that - staying at home?”