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About
Silent Valley National Park
Silent Valley has a
very eventful history in comparison to the other wildlife parks in the
country. The local name for the park is Sairandhrivanam (the forest in
the valley) and had been a centre of hot d ebates
and protests in the decades of the 70's and 80's of the 20th century.
The history of the park goes way back to 1888 when the region was
declared a reserved land under the Forest Act and later notified as a
Reserved Forest by the Government of Madras in 1914.
Located in the Kundali Hills of the Western Ghats, the Silent Valley
National Park holds a valuable reserve of rare plants and herbs. The
park is rich in its wildlife, and elephants, lion-tailed macaques and
tigers are the most common denizens of this park. A visit to this park
should be considered a lifetime experience, as this is the last
representative virgin tract of tropical evergreen forests in India.
Though
smaller in size in comparison to the other national parks in India,
what makes it unique is the sylvan environment the region has along
with its high altitude peaks and several rivers that run through it.
Silent Valley has a very eventful history in comparison to the other
wildlife parks in the country. The local name for the park is
Sairandhrivanam (the forest in the valley) and had been a centre
of hot debates and protests in the decades of the 70's and 80's of the
20th century. The history of the park goes way back to 1888 when the
region was declared a reserved land under the Forest Act and later
notified as a Reserved Forest by the Government of Madras in 1914.
In the later half of the 1970's, Kerala State Electricity Board
decided to construct a Hydel Power Project in this region and when in
1980, this region was declared as National Park, the area of Hydel
Project was not included. This started fierce discussions and protests
and the Board had to drop its plan. Subsequently, in 1984, the park
was again renotified as a National Park with the project area
included. In 1986, the Silent Valley was declared the core area in the
Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve.
Reaching There:
By Rail : The nearest railway station is Palakkad, 75
kms.
By Air : Nearest airport is at Coimbatore, 55 kms.
Nearby Excursions:
Parambikulam, Choolanur Peacock Sanctuary, Attappadi
or Mountain Valley |
