Subcollector to Flag Off Neelakurinji Walkathon on Oct. 1
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MUNNAR, Sept. 23, 2026. The Save Kurinji Campaign Council will organise a walkathon in Munnar on October 1 to highlight the urgent need to conserve the region's shola grasslands and neelakurinji.

The event will also commemorate environmental activist G. Rajkumar, who died earlier this year.

Devikulam Subcollector V. M. Arya will flag off the walkathon at 3:00 p.m. from the Old War Memorial in the town. Idukki District Collector Dineshan Cheruvath will deliver the commemoration lecture, while Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Dr. Pramod G. Krishnan will speak on the kurinji and its conservation message.

Neelakurinji has bloomed in various locations in and around Munnar, including Ikanagar, close to the town. However, denser blooms are reported in areas such as Korandikkad and Chokramudi along the Kochi-Munnar-Dhanushkodi National Highway, as well as within the Kurinjimala Sanctuary. Blooms have also been observed in areas adjoining tea plantations, including Mattupetty.

Rajkumar, who lived and breathed kurinji, organised the first kurinji march from Kodaikanal to Munnar in 1989 and his final walkathon in Kodaikanal in 2014. His relentless campaigns for the plant and its habitat eventually led to key conservation measures, including the establishment of the Kurinjimala sanctuary. Many associates who joined his environmental efforts will gather in Munnar for the walkathon and visit the kurinji flowering sites the following day.

Update (Sept. 25): Change of Venue

Organiser of the walkathon M. J. Babu informs that the route of the walkathon stands changed because of landslip  near CSI Church, Munnar. The walkathon will now start from a location near old railway station and move  through the P. O. Junction and Churchil bridge and enter the town to avoid traffic bottlenecks. The march will pass through GH road and turn from Mosque Junction towards office of the wildlife division.


More News: (Full list)
'Neelakurinji campaign aims to protect entire shola grasslands'
Kurinji Flowering Season Begins Across Munnar and the Nilgiris
Kurinji blooms at Kallippara near Santhanpara
Kurinji blooms again at Santhanpara in Idukki district
kurinji blooms again at Pooppara in Idukki district
Fires destroy kurinji seeds, plantations in Kurinji Sanctuary


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