Alarmed by rapid ‘development’ and fast disappearing farmlands, activists demand new master plan for Kodaikanal

The recent flooding in Chennai should be a wake-up call for the Kodaikanal municipal administration and the residents, say activists in the hill station. The burgeoning population and large-scale development in an eco-sensitive zone could cause landslides, they fear

The recent flooding in Chennai should be a wake-up call for the Kodaikanal municipal administration and the residents, say activists in the hill station. The burgeoning population and large-scale development in an eco-sensitive zone could cause landslides, they fear.

Within two years, several new buildings, including commercial and private bungalows, have come up in this sensitive zone. Can this hill station sustain such massive commercialisation is a big question mark, says Veerabadhran of Eco-Friendly Environment Conservation Trust-Kodai

As per the Kodaikanal master plan of 1993, no structure more than 10 metres tall, or one-plus-one floors (including the basement), can be constructed within Kodaikanal town. The hill station was strictly divided into four zones, the eco-sensitive zone, agri zone, residential zone and commercial zone. As per a notification issued by the government in March 1993, the entire area around Kodaikanal lake extending to 200 metres was declared as a prohibited area where development of any kind was not allowed.

But this got petered down in the modified master plan of 2018 with permission being given for two-floor buildings even in the primary vegetative zone by taking into account the plot coverage area. 

“It is this permission that has led to the degradation of the hill station,” says Mr. Veerabadhran. During this period, slow social changes were also taking place in villages like Kombaikadu, Mannavanur, Puliyur and so on. Most of the people of younger generation in these villages migrated to the plains in search of greener pastures. “Now, Vellapatti, the biggest panchayat in the hill which had numerous farms, is a commercial hub,” he says.

Kodaikanal Municipal Commissioner P. Sathiyanathan admits to this looming crisis in the hill station. “Along with the revenue loss we face due to commercialisation of a property that has been registered as a home, the management of waste and the traffic during weekends become unimaginable.”

Mr. Veerabadhran says the last village in Kodaikanal abutting Kerala, Kilavarai, has seen a large number of people from southern States buying residential properties there. This is apart from those living in other States but have homes in the middle of Palani hills where pear orchards have rapidly disappeared.