Zones of contention

Hundreds of elephants would walk from Silent Valley in Kerala to Bandipur in Karnataka through the picturesque Segur Valley Elephant Corridor in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR) buffer zone in Nilgiris district.

This would happen every year during the south-west monsoon.

The jumbos would take the same route to return to the valley. But the mushrooming of luxury resorts along the elephant corridor, especially some illegal building in Mavanallah and Bokkapuram, over the years have not just obstructed the jumbos’ movements but also brought them in conflict with humans.

After years of legal battle, the Supreme Court in 2018 ordered sealing off down on 27 of the 39 big resorts in the Segur Valley to preserve the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve (NBR).

The court has also appointed a committee to consider the issue of removal of structures around elephant corridors in Nilgiris.

Intense tourism activities had pressurised animals in the corridor. The NBR be protected at all costs as it is home to a large number of Asian elephants and tigers, activists asserted.

Nilgiris District Collector
J Innocent Divya told DH that the district administration had identified 821 buildings that were constructed in violation of the law. “We sealed 38 resorts that were operating illegally. We conduct periodic raids,” she said.

Residential buildings have been untouched and the district administration is waiting for the final order of the Supreme Court. “The orders of the court will be implemented,” the collector said.

Environmental activists say mere sealing of the premises won’t help the jumbos in a big way but razing of the construction will.

“Removing the structures from where they stand would be the logical step. If there is no movement, the area will be calm, and it would allow free movement of elephants. These structures, even if they are not inhabited, will lead to elephants moving suspiciously in the area,” K Mohanraj, an environmentalist, told DH.

He said the governments should take over the land and restore it as forest to allow the smooth movement of elephants.

Advocate ‘Elephant’ G Rajendran, one of the petitioners in the case in the apex court, told DH that razing the structures will go a long way in preserving the Nilgiris biosphere. He also recalled incidents of tourists being trampled to death by elephants in the locations where the concrete structures have come up.