People kept in dark on elephant corridor draft plan, says Gudalur MLA

CHENNAI: Gudalur MLA Pon Jayaseelan charged that the state government and the Forest Department had a premeditated plan to declare many areas as elephant corridors without hearing the views of public and holding detailed assessment. The AIADMK MLA demanded a detailed and scientific study on elephant corridors.

The Forest Department, on April 29, released a draft elephant corridor plan and sought the opinion of and suggestions of the stakeholders regarding it. “We came to know about the draft plan two days ago. There is no proper communication regarding the time frame on registering public objections and views,” said the MLA.

Registering his objection, the MLA said, “It has been done in a hurried manner by publishing the proposal online and inviting the remarks of the public within a very short period. It clearly shows the intention of the Forest Department and the government of Tamil Nadu that they have already decided to declare many areas as elephant corridors without proper and detailed assessment.”

Citing reports of experts and academicians on elephant corridors, Jayaseelan said that there were contradictions on the number of elephant corridors. “Recent findings by Project Elephant identify 20 corridors, while the final report of Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest V Naganathan says that they have identified 42 elephant corridors in the state. It clearly states the intention of the Forest Department to bring many habitats of people under elephant corridors and convert major areas for animals particularly for elephants without considering the livelihood of the people in Gudalur in Nilgiris,” he said.

The people of Gudalur are not against the forest department’s efforts to identify elephant corridors, but it should not have adverse impact on their livelihood, he said and continued that the people should be given ample opportunities to record their views and objections, failing which would lead to unrest. “A proper and detailed study should be carried out across the state, particularly in Gudalur,” he urged.