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SC Order on Nilgiris Elephant Corridor

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August 22, 2018

Why in news?

Supreme Court recently directed the TN government to seal resorts and hotels in the Nilgiris elephant corridor.

What is the Court's order?

  • The Tamil Nadu government has to seal or close down within 48 hours, 11 resorts and hotels.
  • These were constructed on the elephant corridor of Nilgiris in violation of law.
  • Owners of other resorts and hotels in the area were asked to place their documents of approval before the Collector within 24 hours.
  • The Collector will verify the documents and check if a resort or hotel has been constructed with proper prior approval.
  • If not, then the same should also be closed down within 48 hours.

What is the status of elephant corridors?

  • As estimated, there are 101 elephant corridors, of which almost 70% are used regularly.
  • Nearly three-quarters of the corridors are evenly divided among southern, central and northeastern forests.
  • The rest are found in northwest Bengal and the northwestern region.
  • Some of these passages are precariously narrow, at only a hundred metres wide.
  • Nilgiris - There are an estimated 6,500 elephants in just the Brahmagiri-Nilgiris-Eastern Ghats ranges.
  • Most of the resorts in the Nilgiris have come up right under the gaze of the Forest Department.
  • The majority continue to function without the requisite permissions.
  • This must be thoroughly investigated to check whether there was any wrongdoing.
  • The grey area of mushrooming home-stay structures, which are just hotels on forest fringes, also deserves scrutiny.

What is the need?

  • Forests that have turned into farms and unchecked tourism are blocking animals' paths.
  • Animals are thus forced to seek alternative routes resulting in increased elephant-human conflict.
  • Weak regulation of ecotourism is severely impacting important habitats.
  • It particularly affects animals that have large home ranges, like elephants.
  • The movement of elephants is essential to ensure that their populations are genetically viable.
  • It also helps to regenerate forests on which other species, including tigers, depend.
  • Elephant corridors are also crucial to reduce animal fatalities due to accidents and other reasons.
  • So fragmentation of forests makes it all the more important to preserve migratory corridors.
  • Ending human interference in the pathways of elephants is more a conservation imperative.
  • The Supreme Court’s order is thus a necessary step to restore the ecology of these spaces.

What is the way forward?

  • Nearly 40% of elephant reserves are vulnerable, as they are not within protected parks and sanctuaries.
  • Also, the migration corridors have no specific legal protection.
  • Illegal structures in these pathways should be removed without delay.
  • Efforts should be to expand elephant corridors, using the successful models within the country.
  • This includes acquisition of lands using private funds and their transfer to the government.

 

Source: The Hindu

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