Concerns arise over expansion of Theppakadu Elephant Camp in the Nilgiris

Conservationists and elephant experts have voiced their concern over the continued development of the Theppakadu Elephant Camp in the core area of the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve (MTR). They are of the view that that the recent setting up of a township for 44 mahouts and their families, as well as plans to expand the camp itself into a 'world-class facility' may impact wildlife within the reserve.
In a 2014 paper 'Prioritizing Elephant Corridors in Mudumalai Tiger Reserve, Tamil Nadu,' authors K. Kannan, P.S. Jayakumar Thampy, Arunachalam, and B. Ramakrishnan write: 'The Theppakadu-Mandradiyar Corridor is situated in the southeastern part of MTR. It is a crucial elephant corridor that connects Mudumalai and Bandipur tiger reserves to the east of the former and also the Sigur Plateau. Moyar Gorge in the northern side and Morgan Betta in the southern side naturally constrict this corridor. Theppakadu tribal settlements, the forest elephant camp, and lodges are at the exact centre of the corridor, naturally preventing the free movement of elephants.'
During Chief Minister M.K. Stalin's visit to Theppakadu camp last month, he told reporters that there were plans to further improve the facility, stating that the new developments would be announced in due time. This was after he inaugurated the township for mahouts.
An elephant expert, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Hindu: 'The sudden expansion of the camp could sever the connectivity that allows elephants to move freely between Mudumalai's core and buffer zones, as well as Bandipur.'
However, Mr. Ramakrishnan, one of the authors of the 2014 paper, the head of the department of wildlife biology at the Government Arts College in Udhagamandalam, and a member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature's (IUCN) Asian elephant specialist group, disagrees with conservationists' concern over the camp's development severing elephant pathways. 'As per notifications, all four corridors within MTR are located only in the buffer zones and none are in the core area. There are five to six other points between Theppakadu and Thorapalli where elephants are known to cross the Moyar,' he said.
But conservationists reiterated that corridors within core areas had been left out of notified elephant corridors precisely because they were believed to have already been 'secured' due to being in a highly protected area of the MTR core. 'Moreover, when there have been clampdowns on the construction of private resorts in the MTR buffer zone, it seems contradictory for the government to set up a township in the core area and ponder upgrading the elephant camp,' said a conservationist from the Nilgiris, adding that while the Supreme Court had ordered for illegal structures within the tiger reserve to be demolished, the government seemed to have free reign to construct structures at the elephant camp.
Another conservation and landscape ecologist said, 'The core area is the most precious habitat for the elephant. The new constructions have ignored the fact that the site was in the core area of the elephant population and in the most important corridor in south India. How is it possible to reduce habitat and increase the human footprint at a 321-sq.km reserve, when the Bandipur Tiger Reserve has set an example by building new facilities outside its protected area?'
'The Theppakadu camp and the mahout village should be shifted to the periphery of the core zone like in Thorapalli. This way, mahouts can have better access to services, and tourism facilities can also be developed. Such intense human presence in Theppakadu creates a bottleneck in the elephant corridor connecting Bandipur and Mudumalai. It increases disturbance to wildlife, pollution, and noise, while the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA) has also clearly laid out plans to phase out tourism from within the core areas of the reserve,' he added.
Rules exist for development projects to be undertaken with permissions from different regulatory bodies. 'The rules are even stricter for development within the core areas of tiger reserves, where permissions have to be obtained from the NTCA,' said a prominent Tamil Nadu-based conservationist. 'As a general rule, concrete structures should be kept to a minimum within protected areas, particularly tiger reserves. Moreover, the pressures arising out of such activities and associated infrastructure will only be detrimental to wildlife and biodiversity,' he added.
When contacted, R. Kiruba Shankar, Field Director of MTR, said the Forest Department did not need permission from the NTCA for the construction of houses, since these are for staff involved in the daily protection of the tiger reserve. He said houses were constructed near existing ones, and it had no major impact on wildlife movement in the area.
'The electric fencing put up around the site is only for the protection of people living there,' he said, adding that there are no plans to build any concrete structures to further improve the camp. 'Right now, the plans only involve some temporary structures,' he said, adding that the department would approach the NTCA for relevant permissions before taking up any further development at the camp.

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