Amici Curiae visit Kallar horticulture farm in T.N. to ensure free movement of elephants

Three amici curiae appointed by the Madras High Court inspected the Kallar horticulture farm near Mettupalayam in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, on Saturday (October 5, 2024) to ascertain whether adequate steps had been taken for the free movement of elephants through the farmlands.

Three amici curiae appointed by the Madras High Court inspected the Kallar horticulture farm near Mettupalayam in Coimbatore district, Tamil Nadu, on Saturday (October 5, 2024) to ascertain whether adequate steps had been taken for the free movement of elephants through the farmlands.

A special Division Bench of Justices N. Sathish Kumar and D. Bharatha Chakravarthy had requested the advocates Chevanan Mohan, Rahul Balaji, and M. Santhanaraman to pay a visit to the State horticulture farm, spread over 21.80 acres, and file a report with their observations by October 14.

The request was made during the hearing of a 2022 writ petition filed by S. Manoj Immanuel, through his counsel R. Alagumani. The petitioner had sought a direction to the Horticulture department to relocate the farm and hand the land back to the Forest department so it could be maintained as an elephant corridor.

During the initial hearings of the case in April 2022, the court was informed of a proposal having been sent by the Forest department to the State government for the repossession of the land, and that the proposal was under the active consideration of the government.

However, in the previous hearing on September 12, 2024, the court was told about an inter-departmental meeting convened in the presence of the Environment and Forests Secretary on July 19, 2024, when certain decisions were taken with the mutual consent of both the departments.

The Bench was apprised of the decision taken by the Horticulture department to completely dismantle the children’s play area on the farm and ban the entry of visitors, besides removing the solar fence put up around the farm, in order to facilitate the free movement of elephants.

The judges were also told that the Horticulture department would take up research activities in Kallar without any hindrance to the movement of elephants and other wild animals, and that its nursery operations would be confined to the area closer to the main road and away from the forests.