Madras High Court Justices V. Bharathidasan and N. Sathish Kumar, inspected road expansion works along the Coonoor to Mettupalayam Road on Sunday. They inspected the impact the expansion work had on elephant movement up the Coonoor ghat road. The Madurai bench of the Madras High Court had taken suo moto cognisance of the issue, after a video of a herd of elephants struggling to cross the highway emerged a few weeks ago.
The justices, who were joined by Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forests, Supriya Sahu, Nilgiris Collector S.P. Amrith and officials from the Forest, Revenue and State Highways Departments, inspected three of the nine spots identified by the Forest Department, where they believe road expansion works were affecting elephant movement.
Officials said construction along the three ways had led to vertical cutting of slopes and construction of retaining walls, where elephant movement was being impacted.
Ms. Supriya Sahu told The Hindu that a collaborative effort would be undertaken with the co-operation of all government departments to ensure that the traditional migratory paths of elephants were not impacted by road expansion or other development works. Modifications to the road expansion would be discussed in detail. “It is apparent that changes will have to be made. Though they have made a ramp for elephants to cross, lot of work needs to be done to modify and expand it, so that it can be used by elephants and wildlife,” said Ms. Sahu. The other six spots identified by the Forest Department where elephant pathways intersect with the Coonoor-Mettupalayam Road, would also be studied.
The High Court judges on Saturday inspected water ATMs in Udhagamandalam bus stand and at Pine Forest. They also visited Wenlock downs reserve forest and planted native trees, and inspected the removal of invasive species from the landscape. They inspected the progress of removal of invasive Lantana camara from Mavanallah and Madradiyar Road before visiting the Theppakadu Elephant Camp.
