Online booking system to be tweaked, ensure fair chance to individual trekkers in Karnataka

With a large number of complaints from individual trekking enthusiasts about online tokens getting exhausted within an hour of them being made available, the Forest Department of Karnataka is mulling over further streamlining the system to ensure a fair deal to every enthusiast.

“For example, tickets for the famed Netravati trail in Kudremukh Wildlife Division are sold within an hour of opening,” said H. K. Ramesh, an enthusiast from Bengaluru.

Ramesh accused tour operators in Karnataka, particularly in Bengaluru, of bulk booking trekking trails in fictitious names as soon as slots are made available. Up to 300 persons are allowed every day on each trekking trail being operated by the department. After getting the required number of tourists and their names, tour operators cancel the original booking and make a fresh booking with real names, he alleged.

Limiting bookings

Mangaluru Circle has the maximum trails (16) out of the 44 trails in Karnataka. V. Karikalan, Conservator of Forests, Mangaluru Circle, told The Hindu that the circle has told its Information Communication Technology (ICT) wing to further tweak the online booking system to prevent bulk booking of slots.

Online bookings can be made through https://aranyavihaara.karnataka.gov.in. The online booking system was developed by the Centre for Smart Governance.

A part of the Netravati trek. All the 300 slots per day earmarked for the Netravati trek are taken within hours of the opening of online booking.
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Some of the recommendations to the ICT include limiting the booking to just three from one IP address, making Aadhaar authentication mandatory while booking, and introducing a waiting list for trekkers. If those booking in bulk cancel the booking, the slot should automatically be available to the next in line, and not to the original person.

At present, trekkers who have booked online are required to exhibit one of the approved government identity cards before commencing the trek from the base camp.

Kudremukh Wildlife Division, headquartered in Karkala in Udupi district, has three protected areas — Kudremukh National Park, Mookambika Wildlife Sanctuary, and Someshwara Wildlife Sanctuary — spread over Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Chikkamagaluru and Shivamogga districts. The department has resumed trekking in eight of the total 16 trails, namely, Netravati, Kudremukh, Kurinjal, Gangadikal, Kodachadri (two trails), and Narasimha Parvatha (two trails) trails.