A private tea estate in Coonoor has impeded the movement of elephants by commencing work on a road through a key elephant corridor between Kallar and Hillgrove. The district authorities have intervened and halted the work.
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The work was undertaken in a property belonging to the Singara Estate management. Pictures captured by residents of Kurumbadi village show that earthmovers were used to cut and expand a road. Branches of native tree species had been lopped off, and fires were allegedly started to clear the land. The estate reportedly constructed the road to begin the cultivation of coffee and pepper in the area.
Conservationists said the area was facing tremendous anthropogenic pressures due to the expansion of a highway and the building of steep revetments that hinder elephant movement up the slopes in Coonoor. Forest Department officials confirmed that three native trees were uprooted during the construction of the road.
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A top forest official said information on the road work was received on May 10 and, when questioned, the owners had said they had received permission from the Nilgiris Collector’s office and the Revenue Department for ‘maintenance’ of the road. “The Forest Department wrote to the Collector and the Revenue Department, urging that the order allowing the construction of the road be rescinded, but no action was taken,” the official said.
The Revenue Department only seized two earthmovers on May 19, more than a week after the Forest Department requested that the work be stopped, the official said. “When we wrote the letter, less than 100 meters of the road work had been completed; but as no action was taken, the owners managed to continue the work on 40 acres of their property,” the official added.
The Forest Department’s letter had warned that negative human-animal interactions will increase as the area was a crucial pathway for elephants moving between Coonoor and Kallar. An illegal private resort in the area was closed down in 2021 for operating without clearances from the Hill Area Conservation Authority (HACA).
A conservationist said the area was also home to Great Indian Hornbills and other species of rare and endemic birds.
When contacted, Nilgiris Collector S.P. Amrith told The Hindu that the Singara Estate had sought permission only to cultivate coffee and pepper, and not to construct a road in the area. “As soon as the district administration and the Revenue Department learned that the conditions of the permission were violated, the work was stopped and the earthmover seized,” he said. The permission granted to the estate to cultivate the area was also cancelled, he added.