A corridor for elephants or land sharks?

A corridor for elephants or land sharks?

The government says this area in A Raja’s constituency should be an elephant corridor. But experts disagree, reports Imran Khan 30 April, 2011

Animals or farms? The jumbo corridor will displace 125 families

FOR THE people of Tamil Nadu’s Sholur panchayat, comprising six hamlets, it was a matter of life and death when they decided to boycott the recent Assembly poll. This panchayat of over 10,000, represented by former telecom minister A Raja, is furious over the judgment of the Madras High Court that gave permission to the state forest department to acquire their land for an elephant corridor.

Sholur panchayat falls in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, home to some of the most endangered species of flora and fauna. The 5,000-sq km reserve spread across three states (Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala) houses the Mudumalai tiger reserve and the largest number of Asiatic elephants.

This place is also home to tribals, including Irulas and Kurumbas, who dwell in small hamlets in the Moyar, Mavanallah, Bokkapuram and Vazhaithottam areas. They will be dislocated by the recent ruling, which came in response to a petition filed by advocate Elephant G Rajendran with regard to the protection of elephant corridors.

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Activists and tribal leaders are angry, particularly because the petitioner had demanded that only 584 acres be acquired. An affidavit filed in the court by the then Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF) CK Sreedharan clearly indicated the area to be acquired. But, says CR Bijoy of Campaign for Survival and Dignity, the government went and notified around 7,000 acres. “This is pure land grab in the name of the elephant,’’ adds Bijoy.

“These lands fall under the Tamil Nadu Private Forest Act, 1961,” explains Mohan Raj of World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). “And it has been found that these patta lands have been acquired by locals and resort owners without permission from the state forest department.” Further, he says, “Only 125 families will be affected by this corridor, and the judgment says that tribals should either be compensated or given an alternative site.”

Local activists, however, are not so sanguine. They find fault with the very concept of a fifth elephant corridor by the committee constituted of only forest officials.

PT Varghese of Masinagudi Farmers and Landowners Association cites the book Right of Passage by Project Elephant and the Wildlife Trust of India. In the Masinagudi area, four corridors have been identified linking the Eastern and Western Ghats. “We are not within any of these identified areas,” he says.

“This book is written by Asian elephant expert Raman Sukumar who is also on the board of Wildlife Trust of India. However, he has eight acres on the same fifth elephant corridor. He chose to ignore it since his house is on it,” says Mohan Raj.

Human rights Varghese represents the landowners

RESPONDING TO this allegation, Sukumar, who is a professor at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, says, “My land is outside the protected area. Construction followed the prescribed norms.” He adds, “I decided to build the house after looking at other studies done by ERC Davidar and elephant conservationist Ajay Desai. Both these reports and the Radio Telemetric study conducted by Desai clearly show no movement of elephants in this area.”

True enough, Desai’s research (Home Range of Elephants in the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, South India), a copy of which is with TEHELKA, doesn’t identify any fifth corridor. But while testifying in court, Desai said that the area south of Bokkapuram village comes under the fifth corridor and most of it is forest land, illegally acquired by resort owners and locals without permission. Desai was unavailable for comment.

Asked about the district administration’s plans, Collector Archana Patnaik said that the court order would be implemented and an eviction plan devised.

Imran Khan is a Correspondent with Tehelka.com
imran@tehelka.com