Forest Department halts construction of water tank along notified Sigur Elephant Corridor

Forest Dept. halts construction of water tank in Sigur Elephant Corridor, citing risk to wildlife. District admin. criticised for sanctioning projects close to corridor, setting bad precedent. Residents of nearby villages submit complaints against Forest Dept. for not allowing construction.

The Forest Department has halted the construction of a water tank in a village in the Sigur Elephant Corridor.

This follows close on the heels of their intervention last week, when the department had to stop the construction of a trench adjoining the notified elephant corridor, under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme.

According to Forest Department officials, they had stopped the construction of a drinking water tank in Vazhaithottam village in the buffer zone of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve. The water tank is part of three tanks that are being demolished and rebuilt in Mavanallah, Vazhaithottam and Bokkapuram by the District Rural Development Agency.

Officials said the area where the water tank was being built was part of a reserved forest that had been encroached upon over the last few decades. “It was only during the re-evaluation of survey numbers during the inspections of the Sigur Elephant Corridor Committee that it came to the notice of the Forest Department that it was forest land,” a top forest official said.

As the tank potentially poses a risk to wildlife, especially to elephants inhabiting the area, the Forest Department has stopped the construction work.

Local conservationists have criticised the district administration for sanctioning projects located within and close to the notified elephant corridor, stating that if the government itself was constructing infrastructure along the elephant corridor, that it sets a bad precedent for local residents and resort owners, who may feel encouraged to construct infrastructure that harms local wildlife.

On Monday, residents from the villages of Mavanallah, Vazhaithottam and Bokkapuram thronged the additional collectorate in Udhagamandalam, submitting their complaints against the Forest Department for not allowing the construction of water tank in the village.