All resorts in notified Sigur plateau elephant corridor directed to be dismantled

The elephant-proof trench bordering the notified elephant corridor in the Sigur plateau. Photo: Special Arrangement

The Segur Plateau Elephant Corridor Inquiry Committee has passed orders directing that all 12 resorts in the notified elephant corridor that had raised objections to being shutdown be dismantled, and fences around the properties be removed.

Conservationists have welcomed the orders, stating that the sealing of the resorts is the first step towards ensuring the protection of the crucial elephant corridor connecting the Eastern and Western Ghats.

With the latest orders being passed, all 39 of the illegal resorts that were functioning in the Sigur plateau will be closed down, with a direction to demolish the buildings also.

After the Supreme Court’s verdict, upholding the validity of the notification of the elephant corridor in 2018, 27 of the resorts, which were not represented before the court were ordered to be closed down, while 12 of the remaining resorts were granted time to produce documents showing valid documents and titles for running the resorts.

The committee noted that the resorts – Jungle Hut, De Rock, Rolling Stones, Forest Hills Farm and Guest House as well as Jungle Retreat and Gordon Jungle Properties – had in total 74 buildings on their premises. This showed that it was “amply evident that these are not small bona fide residential buildings but big commercial constructions without all requisite approvals,” the committee had observed.

The committee went onto direct the district administration to initiate “necessary action” against the resort owners, with the owners being given the reprieve of dismantling the buildings by themselves and transport all the materials out of the property.

An earlier order by the committee had directed that six other resorts, including Mount View Farm House, Belmont Retreat 1 & 2, Casa Deep Woods, Wild Haven Resort, Wild Adventure Farm House and Safari Land Farm and Guest House, be demolished. The petitioners before the committee, who were represented by senior lawyer, Salman Khurshid, had also contended that the move by then district collector to remove solar-powered and chain-link fences around their property was illegal, as they contended that the Supreme Court had only ordered the removal of electric and barbed wire fences. The expert committee, in their orders, said that there were more than 70 fences across the corridor, and that they had found elephant dung, ungulate pellet droppings, animal tracks and debarked trees, all of which “conclusively establish that elephants, bears and wild ungulates” are moving through the properties where fences have been removed. The committee concluded that the removal of the fences was “ just and necessary” to ensure the uninterrupted movement of wildlife.

The committee, headed by retired Justice K. Venkatraman as the chairman, has among its members, conservationists Praveen Bharghav and Nandita Hazarika. Sources said that the committee has passed around 176 orders on the objections raised by resort owners as well as private land holders and residential building owners residing along the notified Segur Elephant Corridor, with officials expecting all orders to be passed within the next few weeks.

A conservationist from the Nilgiris, requesting anonymity, said that the closure of the resorts and their eventual dismantling will be a huge fillip for conservation efforts in the region, and in protecting vital elephant corridors. “It was during the DMK government in 2010 that a Government Order was passed for the first time in India notifying the Segur Elephant Corridor. The same government is continuing to expand protections to elephant corridors across the state, and it is my hope that all such corridors are identified and protected,” said the conservationist.