BHPian ike recently shared this with other enthusiasts:Drive to Peechi Dam in ThrissurMe and the kids drove randomly on a Saturday to Peechi dam. It is a 25 KM drive from Thrissur, and the pleasant morning weather made it enjoyable. There are coracle rides operated by the Forest Dept. for 20 mins or 40 mins that cost 420/840 bucks respectively. We unfortunately couldn’t spot any animals, but bison, elephants, deer are quite common and occasionally people have spotted bears too. The person rowing the boat was a very experienced forest watcher who knew the forest well and said that animals come out in herds during summer when water sources within the forest dry up. Right now, they don’t need to come to the dam periphery for water since it is available in abundance within the forest itself. It was an enjoyable experience, there are various treks too organized by the forest dept. of varying duration and difficulty levels and these have to be booked in advance. Larger boats that could go 8 -12KMS upstream were in operation earlier but they stopped it since the water was getting polluted with all the kerosene and diesel (this dam supplies drinking water for about 10 lakh people and also water for irrigation). Electric boats would be pretty effective, no pollution plus the dam already generates hydropower. Check out BHPian comments for more insights and information.
