For thousands of years, Elephants inhabited this passageway in Kerala….
For thousands of years, Elephants have occupied the elephant corridor extending from Sathyamangalam Forest, Coimbatore (TN) to the Silent Valley, Mannarkadu (Kerala).
But just in the last 20–25 years there has been rapid growth in quarries, railway tracks, factories, buildings and educational institutions creating blockage in the way of elephants use the passage to migrate during monsoons.
12 elephants have died in Tamil Nadu in the past 30 days alone, killed by speeding trains and vehicles, by dangerous electric fences built around plantations, and also consciously by humans being perceived as threat.
Some of the buildings which have encroached the elephant corridors include:
Amritha Vishwa Vidyapeeth University, Karunya University, Isha Yoga Centre, Karl Kubel Institute for Development Education, The Salim Ali Centre for Ornithology and Natural History, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University’s Forest College and Research Institute, Isha Engineering, Isha Shoppe, A CRPF training centre, Private schools and engineering colleges, Brick kilns in Thadagam Valley, Railway tracks, Granite quarries, Cement factories, Residential plots
Whether these buildings have got the necessary approval from the Hill Area Conservation Authority is open to question. Where is the written record and documentation that says these organisations have received the correct approval?
The forest officials instead of monitoring and stopping such encroachments seem to be turning a blind eye to the situation and are not taking any action. The forest guards try to either chase away the animals with un-recommended practices and unscientific methods or kill the intruding animals.
Experts say the key to reducing the man-animal conflict is removing the man-made obstacles along the elephant corridor, which in effect forces the animals to try alternative routes, often through human habitations and farmland.
Elephants are long-ranging animals that move throughout the year in search of vegetation and water. Soon after rainfall, there will be fresh grass; also this is the time around which crops are ready for harvest. It is a coincidence that elephants are entering and damaging the agricultural fields.
According to an India Today article — June 22nd 2016 :
“The Madukkarai forests have been encroached and turned into plantations, private educational institutions, granite quarries, cement factories and residential plots. All this has occurred under the watchful eyes of the forest officials.”
It is said that “…the doors to hell await all those who are a party to this, including the ones who are silently watching, turning their face away, thinking that nothing will happen to them.”.
I really wonder whether politicians realise the great responsibility they have bestowed upon themselves and by turning a blind eye will head to hell.
