The State Highways Department will submit to the Government in a day or two the detailed project report for a third route from Coimbatore District to the Nilgiris.
An official of the department told The Hindu that the road from Karamadai to Udhagamandalam will be 94 km long and the width will vary depending on the area.
This is an existing road that is used by officials of the Tangedco and even the public. About four km of the 94 km is Tangedco road. The Forest Department is yet to give its clearance to the project. However, there should not be a problem in getting it as the Highways plans to use the existing land and there is no proposal to take forest land for widening the road. This stretch will be helpful where there are traffic snarls or road blocks on the existing two roads, the official said.
Meanwhile, environmental NGO Osai has appealed to Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswamy to intervene so that the plan is dropped as it will have severe impact on wildlife and ecology.
Osai in its letter to the Chief Minister said that proper maintenance of the existing hill roads itself would serve the purpose.
As of now, TNSTC buses are operated via Karamadai, Velliangadu, Mulli and Manjur stretch apart from vehicles of Forest Department, Tangedco and Tantransco and residents of the high range areas. Passage of vehicles through the road is restricted by the Forest Department. Already, free movement of elephants on the stretch is affected due the presence of dams, canals and pen stock for power generation.
Being a hotspot of elephants in the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve, one of the prime habitat of Asian elephants in the world, Mulli forest section is a corridor witnessing high movement of elephant from Mudumalai and Sathyamangalam to Silent Valley and Mannarkad in Kerala. Vast forest patches and availability of water throughout the year also make Mulli section an ideal habitat for elephants. Free movement of elephants is affected on Coonoor and Kotagiri stretches due to high vehicular traffic throughout the day, forcing the animals to stray into human habitation and agricultural fields. Hence, expansion of the alternative route would worsen human-elephant conflict.
Also, forest sections on the sides of Bhavani on the strecth is home for endangered bird species such as Great Pied Hornbill and Malabar Pied Hornbill that face huge habitat destruction, the organisation said.
“The Highways Department has reportedly assured the Forest Department to provide alternative land as compensation. But this is not only about losing trees and forest patches. This will adversely affect the ecology and habitat of several flora fauna which humans cannot repair,” Osai president K. Kalidasan has said.
