Now that the Madras High Court has retrieved over a thousand acres of forest land in Gudalur region in The Nilgiris – popularly known as Janmam lands - to the government, the focus shifts to clearing of encroachments and restore the native shola forests.
While plantations, farm lands and encroachments formed most of the disputed Janmam lands, a significant portion of the original natural forest land also became a victim in one of the longest legal battles lasting decades.
“The judgment is a shot in the arm for ecology and conservation and was long overdue considering the importance and the extent of goodness that the Nilgiris Biosphere Reserve holds for the entire region,” says K. Mohanraj, wildlife activist.
The Janmam lands, especially the virgin shola forests of about 30,000 acres, are an inseparable segment of the Western Ghats, which serve as the “overhead water tank” for millions of people, said D. Venugopal, director, Nilgiri Documentation Centre (NDC). It was Save Nilgiris Campaign (SNC), the predecessor of NDC, which made the first appeal to resolve the Janmam cases in 1987.
“There is need in the Nilgiris for protection and preservation of native shola forests, which are now found in remnants that can provide crystal clear, unpolluted, perennial water supply,” said an official of the Central Soil and Water Conservation Research and Training Institute. Enhancing area under tea in the Nilgiris where soil erosion had reached critical stage would be suicidal, he adds.
The major encroachers, according to forest officials, were three major plantation companies. Of the 80,000 acres of Janmam land in Gudalur region, 20,000 to 30,000 acres were leased out to large plantation companies several decades ago and of them nearly 50 per cent of land was developed for plantation, say forest officials.
The SNC had contended that increasing production should not be at the cost of virgin forests in the Nilgiris, which had declined to 20 per cent of its original area. A further degradation of 30,000 acres would be suicidal.
The Geological Survey of India in a thorough study of the Nilgiris’ ecology after the disastrous 1978 floods stated “in the interest of slope stability and hence in the interest of the district, further conversion of forests into plantations, governmental, quasi-governmental or private, should be barred forthwith by the government.”
“As conservationists, we request the government to use this opportunity to retrieve the encroached land from encroachers,” says Vijay Krishnaraj, executive committee member, Niligiris Wildlife and Environment Association.
“With the Janmam lands dispute resolved, the government should focus on the development of Gudalur taluk, which is a challenge and an opportunity,” says Mr. Venugopal.
Forest managers and environmentalists say though the Madras High Court ruling was applicable only in respect of a portion of Janmam lands around 1,400-odd acres, it is likely to have a direct and immediate impact on 20,000 acres facing the same legal status. However, they say this is likely to set the trend in respect of the other petitions pending before the tribunal at Ooty and also the appeals at other levels of judiciary.
