A cross-section of residents of Nedugula near Kotagiri on Sunday protested against a joint inspection of an alternative site being proposed for the shifting of the horse racing track in the Nilgiris.
For about 45 minutes, the protesters blocked Revenue Department officials and representatives of the Madras Race Club (MRC), who were on their way to inspect a 54-acre site at Kadaikambetti in Nedugula Village Panchayat II, based on a Madras High Court direction. The district administration had identified the land as an alternative site for shifting the horse racing track in Udhagamandalam town.
Earlier, MRC office-bearers formally signed papers handing over 1.6 acres of land in the race course in Udhagamandalam to the Revenue Department to set up a parking lot on the MRC premises, as per the HC directive.
The court had also directed the district administration and the MRC to conduct an inspection of an alternative site for the Race Course in Kotagiri.
However, a cross-section of residents, most of whom were from the Badaga community, hoisted black flags in front of their houses and blocked the cars in which the Revenue Department officials were travelling to protest against plans to shift the race course near to their village.
‘Preposterous idea’
Members of various Badaga welfare groups led over 100 protesters to the spot. Speaking to The Hindu , a member of one such group contended that the proposed site was close to a burial ground used by the community and a temple of the ancestral goddess of the Badagas. “There is also a playground here, and the use of alcohol is prohibited in the village. So the idea of having a horse racing track here is preposterous,” said a member of the community, who did not wish to be named.
Revenue Department officials, however, said the land in question belonged to the Department, and that encroachments had come up on it. “We convinced the people that it was just an inspection, and that no decisions have been made yet, and they eventually allowed us to proceed,” the official said. The suitability of the site for the proposed race course would be decided by the court after a report is submitted by the district administration, he added.
Meanwhile, some conservationists have voiced their displeasure over the plan to set up a parking space at the race course. V Sivadas, managing trustee of the Nilgiri Environment and Cultural Service Trust, contended that the race course harboured the last remnants of a diverse wetland which stretched from what is now the Government Botanical Garden to the Ooty lake. “The wetland absorbs most of the town’s rainfall, sequesters carbon and provides a habitat to a wide range of wildlife, including amphibians, insects, migratory birds and a huge variety of native grass,” he said.
