A race for the perfect monsoon photograph, garnering an avalanche of online admiration and a quest for the viral reel is putting some of the Western Ghats’ rarest flowering plants at risk, said our report. Botanists and wildlife experts warn that irresponsible tourism across rocky lateritic plateaus of Lonavala and the Maval region could push several species towards local extinction, it added.

Our cavorting, mobile camera brandishing, without a care in the world visitors are increasingly venturing onto fragile plateaus for photographs. In the process, they trample delicate plants, they pluck flowers like some kind of trekking trophy and, in some cases, drive off-road vehicles across the habitat.