CHENNAI: Cracking down on illegal operation of brick kilns along the elephant corridors, the Madras High Court has ordered the State to take immediate measures, to ensure that the kilns function within the set parameters.
Muralidharan, the petitioner, stated that illegal mining in the region of Thadagam in Coimbatore was the sole reason behind the rising number of man-animal conflicts between elephants and humans. “The brick kilns and red sanders mining have destroyed important elephant corridors used by tuskers to migrate to contiguous forest areas.
This is resulting in elephants moving into human settlements and damaging crops,” he added. He also submitted details that between 1999 and 2014 about 100 elephants have died in the area and 77 people have been killed.
The State said the Mines Department after consultation with all departments is working out a solution- to keep the elephant corridors untouched and the corridors that have been encroached upon can be restored.
The first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy recording the submissions said, “Burgeoning brick kilns that encroach into forest lands or elephant corridors should be proceeded against without delay.” The court then directed the State to file a detailed report through the Chief Secretary in the next six weeks.