NEW DELHI: Terming it the duty of every citizen to protect and improve the environment including forests and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures, the Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld the Madras High Court order directing resort owners and other private land owners in Mudumalai to vacate and hand over possession of land falling within the notified elephant corridor to Nilgiris Collector.
A bench headed by Chief Justice of India S A Bobde said, “We have no hesitation in holding that in order to protect the elephant population in the Sigur Plateau region, it was necessary and appropriate for the state government to limit commercial activity in areas falling within the elephant corridor.” The bench said despite being a figure of traditional cultural reverence, today the elephant species is severely threatened.
“The crux of the problem is one that affects all wildlife in the country. As India’s human population has grown exponentially in the past several decades, so has its demand for resources,” it noted. The court’s order came on the appeal of Hospitality Association of Mudumalai challenging the Madras High Court’s April 2011 order.
The association’s submissions comprised of questions about scientific accuracy of the expert committee’s report and contentions that dimensions as well as location of single corridor identified therein are at odds with authoritative scientific publications. The top court, however, ruled that these assertions were dealt by the HC which held that there was material on record to show presence of elephants as well as a past incident of human-elephant conflict, which resulted in the death of a French tourist, in the region where the appellants’ resorts are located.
“The ever-growing need for land, infrastructure and energy requirements of our large population have slowly fragmented the elephant’s natural spaces which are now surrounded by human habitation, agriculture, mining, roads and railways,” the court said. The top court also appointed a three-member committee, to inquire into the issues involved in illegal constructions.
The committee comprises Justice K Venkatraman, former judge of the Madras HC (Chairman); Ajay Desai, Consultant to World Wide Fund for Nature-India and Member of the Technical Committee to come up with a National Elephant Action Plan; and Praveen Bhargava, Trustee of Wildlife First and former member of National Board for Wildlife.