A report submitted by the Wildlife Warden of Megamalai Division, Theni, before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday said 26 power lines running in the wildlife division were identified as ‘critical’ and that action had been initiated to raise them from the surface level at 26 spots.
According to a status report submitted earlier, Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation and Tamil Nadu Transmission Corporation, in a joint inspection, identified 134 low-lying power lines. Six months’ time was sought to raise them.
A Division Bench of Justices K. K. Sasidharan and P. D. Audikesavalu took cognisance of the report and directed raising of critical lines within a month. With regard to raising non-critical lines, the court directed submission of an action taken report on April 2.
The court had initiated suo motu proceedings following reports of elephant deaths in the region due to low-lying power lines. So far, six elephant deaths have been reported in the wildlife division in as many months.
The court heard another petition on elephant deaths that alleged that they could have been a result of poaching. However, the court said it would take up the issue of raising the power lines within the forest division before looking at the poaching angle. The petitioner, advocate Manoj Immanuel, sought a special team monitored by the court to probe elephant deaths.
