Self Managed Self-employed,
Responsible, Sustainable Units
Leads To Decarbonisation.

We started the hospitality business in 1995-96 since then we have faced a lot of issues, in connection with floods, epidemics, strikes, hartal and finally Covid. All these affected the guest arrivals and most of the hospitality business had to suffer heavy losses and many have ceased their operations. But our business surpassed all the above and doing the activities without any major concern, till today. We are regularly paying our loan installments and all due payments including the salary of our employees on time.

We faced all the above issues, but still, we survived, The following are the reasons

We Use Renewable Energy.
1)Solar Panel & Solar Water Heaters.
We have installed a 5 KVA Solar Panel, 4 X 100 Liter Solar Water Heater, and a 200 Liter Solar Water Heater for our operation, and the above results in saving our power charges to a greater extent. Usually, we don’t have to operate our 40 KVA Diesel Generator, as during frequent power failures, all of our lights and fans will be on, with the help of solar power. This also saves us from the huge diesel charges. Thus we can save around 30% of power charges & 80% of diesel expenses.

2) Rainwater harvesting and the utilization of water from local water bodies are sustainable water management practices that can help address water scarcity issues.
We also use water, which comes through the Rain Water Harvesting Plant. We have a total storage capacity of around 30,000 Liters, the rainy season usually continues for 4 to 5 months, so we can save our water bill at a considerable level. We use Filtered water from the Lake, for the flush in the bathrooms and for all the outside purposes such as washing, cleaning, for gardening, and for the vegetation on our organic farm. This helps us to save our water bill around 50%.  

3) Food Waste Management
We have developed our own food waste management programs and also have a Bio Gas Plant, which helps us to manage food waste issues, then we get cooking gas from the biogas plant, which reduces our cooking gas expenses at a considerable level. The manure from our food waste management program and the discharge from the biogas plant is a very good manure for vegetation on our farm. We save our fertilizers expenses to 50% and cooking gas expenses around 20 %

4)Vermi Compost Plant & E.M. Composting.
Vermi Compost Plant and E M Composting help us to maintain the organic farm especially since we do not have to use chemical manures for the cultivation of vegetables. The above and the discharge from the biogas plant save considerable cost of fertilizers for farming.

5)Organic Farming
Doing Organic Cultivation, in raised beds, (from one feet to 2.5 feet) by filling compost and biodegradable organic waste mixed with red soil, for better plant growth, ensuring year-round vegetables for our needs. We plant vegetables wherever there is a free space, within our, one and a half acre property. Walking through footpaths around the farm gives learning experiences to guests, it gives a positive energy to the Guests and staff. Thus we  pass the importance of farming to everybody. We also have stingless bees (Meliponiculture) which help the pollination and it improves the productivity of the vegetables in our farm, and we get pure honey for our needs.

6) Open Facility For Refilling of RO Water
In a further attempt to reduce the use of single-use plastics, we installed RO water refill station in our property, this would help us to get rid of bottled water and provide guests with reusable water glass bottles and steel water jugs in their bedrooms. This saves almost 80 % of water bottles (Mineral Water) and also saves the management of that much plastic water bottle issues.

7) We Give Awareness To Guests, Not To Wash Bedsheets And Towels On Every Day.
We implemented a policy of providing awareness of “Save Water, Save Energy” whereby guests  reuse sheets and towels unless they specifically ask for new ones. It reduces the number of loads washed by 30%, including the related water consumption, as well as labour, and energy costs.

8) We Don’t Burn Anything
We don’t burn anything in our property as part of maintaining our activities based on decarbonisation. How? We give plastic to the haritha karma sena of the Kumarakom Panchayat and water bottles to local agencies. All the biodegradable wastes are used in our organic farm as manure for our vegetation.

a)We manage our food waste into manure for our farm

b)We manage dried leaves through EM Composting.

c)We manage vegetable waste through Vermicomposting.

d)We manage all other vegetable wastes, for use as a manure for our cultivation.

e)All the plastics, we give to an approved agency, for recycling.

9)Planting Fruit Trees, Vegetation & Vegetables
We plant fruit trees, vegetation, and vegetables regularly after every season, which will help us to reduce our expenses towards vegetable purchases and also helps our efforts towards decarbonisation. We save the cost of up to 40% for the vegetable’s purchase.

10) Differently Abled Friendly Property
All our Rooms, Cottages and Villas have wheelchair accessibility. Moreover, the whole property is accessible by differently abled persons in wheelchairs, including the organic farm and the bank of Lake Vembanad for the purpose of relaxation.

11) We are committed to safeguard the peaceful living of our neighbours

We take all necessary steps to protect the peaceful life of our neighbours. We are also committed to see that there isn’t any air, water and sound pollution due to the tourism activities. We consider the above is very important for the Responsible Tourism activities. We don’t take  any drinks party, hen, stag or similar parties. We will never allow DJ Party or large gatherings. We give accommodation and food in our nature friendly property. Therefore we maintain a peaceful culture in our community.

Our Continuing Efforts Towards Sustainability

1)We Generate More Bookings Through Our Website & Direct Marketing.
We get more guest’s booking through word of mouth, there are more repeat customers too, moreover there is more visibility of our website, it’s coming in the first page, when the guests search through concerned keywords. We make it a point to give our visiting cards to everybody, when they visit the property. We do maximum efforts for direct marketing through Internet, Google, WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Visiting Cards, You Tube, Videos, Travel Fares Etc. We share our marketing & promotion materials in pdf format and share through the social media platforms. We also try to convert maximum enquiries of bookings into guaranteed Reservation, including the reservations, which comes through Booking.Com, Airbnb etc.

We Encourage Local Tour Operators
We encourage local Tour Operators, by offering them more attractive offers, such as commission, give preference to provide rooms and cottages to them even during peak season, so that they provide us more business and they get reasonable income from their business to pull on even during difficult period.

We Support Local Travel Providers
We provide business to local, responsible, Taxi Operators for the guests up and down travel requirements and Houseboat,Shikara and Speedboat  Operators for cruising in backwaters. They take care of the Guests,charge reasonably only, and do their duties with maximum responsibility. We never accept any commission from those providers. 

2) Employment of Local Staff
They are trained to do any jobs in the property, such as Service Staff can assist with cooking and can look after Reception, Check In & Check Out. Housekeepers can also do our farm work.All office staff and service staff know to generate bills for the guests and they do service and after service as and when it is required. There will be at least 2 staff meetings in a week, thus we make them into loyal and professional staff. There is more savings in employing local people as we don’t have to provide accommodation to local staff.

Local Lady Manager
Our Manager is a Lady  Mrs Asha who is a housewife from our Village. She have basic education, we have trained her and now she looks after our all  activities within the property. Mrs Asha takes more care and commitments to her duties and very sincere also.

3)We Provide Fresh, Safe & Local Food & Beverages
We give awareness to the Guests to have local food and beverages, which is easy and cost-efficient to source and available round the year.

4)We Give Awareness To The Guests About The Need of Saving Power And Water. We inform the guests to save energy & water, through our website, whatsApp group messages and through stickers. We create whatsApp group of Guests in each room / cottage with our mobile numbers for communication purposes, during their stay.

Save Power & Water.
We inform guests at the time of booking itself, to enjoy the night without the nuisance of small insects, by switching off the lights in their Sit Out, when they are relaxing. We advise guests to switch off power when they don’t use it, or they are not in the room. Switch off the air conditioner, fan, lights, tv, other plug points in the room, and the lights & fan at the porch, when guests are not using it and when guests are going out of the property or when they are relaxing outside. We also communicate through the whatsApp group to switch off all electric connections and close water taps when they are not using it and to switch off the fan and lights in their porch, before the guests go to the bedroom, at night.

Additional Effort To Save Power & Water
We serve food and beverages in front of Cottages & Rooms. It saves power charges for lights and fans. Moreover, they can wash their hands at the outside taps, where lake water is arranged. We encourage our guests by providing facilities in front of the cottages and rooms to relax, enjoy, view the lake and breathe the fresh air from the Lake. It saves the power for AC, & fan. Thus we do save power and water charge as described above.

5)Home—Grown Fruits & Vegetables
We use fruits and vegetables from our farm to use in our kitchen. Mainly our dishes are made up of vegetables from our farm. We have lots of Papaaya which have very good medicinal and nutritious values. We cultivate Turmeric, ginger, and pepper. Fruit trees including mangos, jackfruit, pineapple, custard apple, water apple etc which we serve to our guests for free. We buy locally sourced fish and meat and it eliminates the need for fuel-intensive transportation. We also buy fresh fish from the fisherman who use raw boats for fishing in the lake.

6) What’s App Communication Group
We create  whatsApp group by including the guest number, service staff and manager’s numbers and our numbers. Guests use this group for conveying all their requirements and communications, in advance, to have our services without delay. It will also enable the guests to verify all the dues and can inform us if there is any deficiency in our services. It saves lots of energy and staff, moreover investment for intercom, additional power charges and employment of more staff.

7) Handling of Luggage.
We inform the Guests at the time of booking itself that the Guests should handle their own luggage as we haven’t appointed anybody for that service. We provide the trolley, if they require it. But we will give assistance to old, aged people, Pregnant Ladies, and disabled people, to take care of their luggage.

8) It’s Not A Luxury Property, But A Property With Basic Amenities.
We inform the guests through our messages at the time of booking itself and also through our website and also through the whatsApp group that our property is not a Luxury Property nor a Resort, but it is a nature friendly  property with basic amenities.

9)Experience The Nature, Do Yoga & Walk For Pleasure
​We give awareness to Guests through WhatsApp messages and website, to use walkers’ paths around the property for walking, jogging and exercise. Each Cottages & Rooms have a porch to do Yoga and to experience nature. We provide facilities in our open hall and on the banks of Lake Vembanad  for yoga practice.​

10)Save Energy & Keep Up Your Health
We regularly pass the following message to our Guests:

a)Using an air conditioner will not help for a healthy life. Therefore, usage of AC to be minimised. Use it for some time till the room temperature has come down, then better to switch off before sleep.

b)If AC is further required, may keep it on for throughout that you are in the room, but put the temperature maximum down say in between 22 to 30 as per the climatic conditions, in the Property. This also saves our power charges.

11)We Have Only Less Than 20 Rooms
 Small properties can always survive during any adverse circumstances if their overheads are manageable.

12)We Have Started Our Property From Low Level.

We have started with just one room, we have grown up naturally and with ease, we managed funds from our profit and grown up gradually. We never want to invest huge capital and to grow up, as always with lots of unforeseen circumstances that  we have to face.

14)Started Tourism Business On Inherited Land
We did not have any capital investment for buying land as we started in our own inherited land. Land is very precious, so if we start our venture in our own inherited land then the initial cost of the project will be manageable. During the beginning stage of any business usually we will not get finance from any banks, on the contrary we will have to get from private financing with exorbitant interest. Then success of the business will be adversely affected. 

15) We Operate With All Necessary Licenses And Paying All Taxes In Time.
 We are committed to the directions and instructions of local self-governments, especially to Kumarakom Panchayat, paying all taxes to Government departments in time, without any failure.

16)Never Take a Loan With an Exorbitant Interest Rate.
We have never taken loans from private financiers, but we have only taken loans through Commercial Banks controlled by RBI and through personal loans without any interest. Interest rate is manageable with commercial banks.

17)Those Who Evade Their Income Will Be Unsuccessful Businessmen,Grow More And More, Pay More And More Tax!
Persons those will evade their income, then their balance sheet will show continuous losses and in that case they will not get any loan from Commercial Banks, thus they will not get funds from the bank with low interest rate, for the steady growth of the business and thus they will become unsuccessful in their business.Moreover they will have to face strict actions from the Govt too.

18)Timely Maintenance And Upgradation
Sustainability of the project also depends upon the timely maintenance and upgradation of the existing unit. We do the same.

19)Implementation of New Ideas On The Basis of Established Principles.
We do invest for the implementation of new ideas on the basis of established principles for further sustainable growth.

20)Local Management & Ownership
Managing, supervising and for working is easy and less expensive for us, as local people, we also stay in our own inherited home very close to our firm. We do have the advantage of the above.

21) We Started The Business 27 Years Back With Just One Room. Now we have 18 AC Rooms, Restaurant, Dining Hall, Activity Hall, Office Block, Staff Rooms, Public washroom facilities,100 KV Transformer, 40 KVA Generator, 5 KVA Solar Panel, Bio gas Plant, EM Composting, Vermi Composting and Organic farming in more than 7 plots in the one-and-a-half-acre property.

Still, We Own And Manage The Same Business With More Activities By Paying More And More Taxes To The Governments And By Employing Local People.

We Would Like To Submit, Before  Authorities:-

1) Restrict Construction.
New Hotels & Resorts with more Rooms in limited areas of land shall be restricted. Government shall enforce the building rule, and should make amendments to the existing rules if necessary to have more free space / land, minimum 35%, or more shall be kept, as without any construction. Car parking areas shouldn’t be measured as part of free space. Free space shall be allocated for vegetation and trees only.

2)Waste Management Should Be At The Place of Origin Itself.
If there is enough free space after the construction, then all the waste of the property can be managed there itself.

3)Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) Is It Necessary? Can Soak Pit, Replace STP?
If the project is small, then there isn’t any need for STP, at the same time if the project is big and it is in a large area of land with various cottage type accommodation, then also STP may not be necessary. There also, Soak Pits are all right for wastewater management.
Treatment of wastewater through the soak pit is a safer and natural way of discharging the treated water into the environment.
But when multi storied buildings with many rooms are there, then STP is a must. 

4)Smaller Units of Tourism Activities Can Preserve the Environment.
Waste management will not become a problem if the tourism activities are by smaller units. Soak pit is a safer way of discharging the waste water. Wastewater can be managed through the traditional way of soak pits. 

5)Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) – Negative Aspects
When there are more rooms, in a limited area of land, there should be the need of a Sewage Treatment Plant. It also contributes to air pollution and needs energy/material input with associated emissions of carbon dioxide. It’s not being managed properly due to various reasons, power charges, additional staff and other cost of operation and lack of control to verify the discharge of treated water. Therefore, if the wastewater from the water treatment plant is not treated properly, it may not be good to flow out. It contaminates the entire water body. Treatment of Kitchen/Restaurant waste water creates issues as the said waste water contains acid, chlorine, soap, chemicals etc., those will kill the bacteria, so the treatment of the said waste water will not have any effect, it will be the same waste water even after the treatment by STP.

STP Pollutes Air, And Water Body, How?
The Aerator pump is to be operated for many hours to generate bacteria, then there will be air pollution as it produces a foul smell during its entire operation. Moreover, running the STP in the proper manner is not affordable even for a larger unit. Therefore, proper functioning of STP is not there, in many properties, thus they have to discharge the wastewater into water bodies and they will keep the STP for name sake to show for the inspection purpose only.

STP Have More Issues In Backwater Region
Hotels & Resorts with more rooms, with a lot of canals on their land, will face issues with treated water. The management will inform, that the water from STP is passing into their gardens. But in a backwater area like Kuttanad Region in Kerala, large quantities of wastewater from the STP will not be absorbed by the earth. Then there is only one place that is letting the water from the STP into rivers, canals, and lakes, it contaminates the whole water body. When the proper functioning of STP is not there, it is understood that the discharge from the STP, that is the wastewater, is discharged into water bodies, therefore the life of the local people will be miserable as they depend on the water body for most of their day to day activities.

6)Larger Projects With Many Accommodation Units, is it suitable!
There are many incidents of DJ Party, Crackers, which spoils the peaceful living of local people. There is no responsible tourism, as far as they are concerned. This happens as the above types of projects will have many accommodation units, convention centers and halls for large gatherings. Thus they violate the peaceful living of the local people.

7) Government Should Encourage Small Projects, which are always Sustainable and will become part of Responsible Tourism. Government should encourage small units with less than 20 rooms and encourage Home Stays with the maximum number of 3 Rooms. Therefore small projects are suitable for ensuring Decarbonising of  Travel & Tourism.

8) Larger Groups Nowadays Prefer Smaller Units!
There are groups with larger units in Kerala, nowadays starting new projects with accommodation units up to 20 rooms. Taj Groups are already into Home Stay units with up to 6 rooms. That means they have already experienced that, only smaller units are suitable in places like Kerala.

9)Public Water Body.
Encourage public water bodies for all types of water activities by maintaining it in a better condition, through enforcement of law, so that it can replace swimming pool.

10)Swimming Pool.
If the water body can be maintained at reasonable standards, there will not be any need for a swimming pool. The Swimming Pool is not at all well maintained in many properties due to various reasons. It requires powerful motor to operate for hours, daily, usage of chemicals & chlorine to maintain the swimming pool. It is also creating air and water pollution and there is many issues to those who use the pool.
Moreover, it generates a huge volume of wastewater, and managing this is also debatable. Therefore, there should be more restrictions towards the construction and operation of  swimming pools by the authorities.

Small Units-
Responsible, Manageable, Beautiful, Sustainable…….
Leads To Decarbonisation.