Mission Munnar

There is a perennial cloud hanging over Munnar at present even though the skies are azure blue there is a mood of uncertainty in the air as Mission Munnar threatens to restart in earnest.
Mission Munnar is the ruling communist parties attempt to clean up Munnar and stop the illegal building that has sprung up on the nearby tea and cardamom estates which are by law only to be used for that sole purpose. Attempts to bulldoze down the encroachments started over the summer and in a sinister twist buildings owned or linked to the previous Congress ruling party were targeted first as was my long term hotel stay which had the misfortune to be built a little to close to the National Highway and was on the way back from the bulldozers real target, so a bit of overtime saw that half of it was demolished and in Indian style the remaining bit still runs as a hotel.
Locals protested, court orders where invoked and mysteriously Inspector Singh (ex flying squad) popped back up to the Punjab claiming his mother was suffering from an ailment, now he is back in town with his map full of big back crosses and the bulldozers are expected to roll back into town soon.
On a more positive note had a super 4 hour ride this morning and dicovered yet another cracking downhill through a tea estate that I had previously been barred from, no sign of the watchman these days and the new ruse of saying " I am looking for elephants" usually apeases even the most jobsworth Indian Security men who will usually give you tips on where in the previously out of bound tea estate you should look for them.