Conservationists see significant threat to traditional elephant migratory path as Minister announces 160-feet Lord Murugan statue at Marudhamalai

Conservationists raise concerns over proposed Lord Murugan statue at Marudhamalai, impacting elephant habitat and migration paths.

Conservationists have raised serious concerns over Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments Minister P.K. Sekar Babu’s announcement that a 160-feet-tall statue of Lord Murugan will be installed at Marudhamalai, a critical habitat for elephants with its foothills being served as a crucial traditional migratory path for pachyderms.

They say that the installation of the statue, the potential future inflow of crowd and further developmental activities will hamper free movement of elephants, forcing them to enter human habitations.

“Marudhamalai is a very sensitive forest area from the ecological point of view and elephants are already made to suffer due to increased human activity and dumping of waste at the foothills. Further constructions and attracting more crowds will worsen the present human – elephant conflict situation,” said conservationist K. Mohanraj.

The Draft Elephant Corridor Report brought out by a panel appointed by the Tamil Nadu Government last year had listed ‘Vellingiri Andavar Kovil Foothills – Valkaradu – Chinnamalai – Maruthamalai foothills – Kanuvai hills – Mangarai – Madudanpathi – Kurudumalai eastern slopes’ as an elephant corridor. It said that access roads and stairways to the Marudhamalai temple, Anuvavi temple, and Ponnoothu Amman temple, which are within the corridor, are significant hurdles.

“The access roads and stairways to these temples, along with the developments associated with temples and high pilgrim activities, have resulted in substantial numbers of shops, buildings, and dependent housing colonies along the foothills at critical locations, which is a significant challenge for elephants to negotiate,” it said.

A conservationist, who has studied elephant habitats in the Coimbatore Forest Division, said elephants are already finding it difficult to cross the Marudhamalai hills from the Boluvampatti side to Mangarai and vice versa, due to anthropogenic pressures.

“Though elephants can climb hills, they prefer to traverse through flat terrains and gradients below 30-40 degrees. Already, elephants are traversing through places like IOB Colony and the Bharathiar University campus. Any further developmental works at the Marudhamalai hills or foothills will put more pressure on elephants, eventually leading to increased negative interactions between humans,” said the conservationist on conditions of anonymity.