COIMBATORE : The horticulture farm at Kallar near Mettupalayam has been closed for visitors. Officials have placed a banner infront of the entrance announcing the decision.
However, maintenance of the garden and distribution of saplings fruits, value added products to farmers and people will continue.
Sources in the horticulture department in Nilgiris said that they got verbal order from senior officials in Chennai and that’s why they were not allowing visitors. Sources added that the decision was taken as the first step towards preventing negative human-elephant interactions to ensure free movement of wildlife especially elephants before shifting the farm as per the direction of the Madras High Court.
Kallar is one of the corridors in which the elephants move between Sirumugai forests and Nilgiris. The Madras High Court in September 2022 ordered the farm to be shifted to facilitate safe movement of wild elephants. One and half years on, there is no development in shifting the farm.
“We checked several locations near Sirumugai in Coimbatore district and also near Kotagiri. But these places are not suitable for maintaining the fruits and plants. The farm has a total of 1,493 trees with 52 species. We have only banned entry of visitors. Sale of saplings such as nutmeg, arecanut and coffee along with seasonal fruits such as Mangosteen (Garcinia mangostana) and Durian fruits are continuing,” an official told TNIE.