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The variety of animals utilizing the corridor and the difficulties they face shall be assessed
The Forest Department has installed cameras to monitor elephants in 5 places on the busy Mettupalayam-Udhagamandalam street the place the ghat part of the National Highway-67 passes by the ecologically necessary Kallar elephant corridor.
The joint initiative by the Forest Department and WWF-India is to assess the variety of elephants utilizing the corridor, its performance, seasonal actions and the difficulties elephants face. Though lone tuskers are discovered to have been crossing the street with out a lot problem, vehicular motion to and from the Nilgiris by Coonoor stays a significant obstruction for herds comprising calves.
“The cameras were placed for increased monitoring of elephants using the corridor. We are expecting to collect various data, including the number of herds using the corridor, the time they take to cross the road, changes in the patterns of movement and other difficulties the animals face,” stated I. Anwardeen, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Coimbatore Circle.
According to the research accomplished by researchers in the previous, the Kallar corridor is important because it connects the Brahmagiri-Nilgiris-Eastern Ghats elephant inhabitants vary with the Nilambur-Silent Valley-Coimbatore inhabitants vary. The motion of elephants between the 2 ranges facilitates genetic alternate, dispersal and entry to quite a lot of seasonal foraging grounds, in accordance to researchers.
Furthermore, researchers have assessed that the corridor is the one attainable transit route for big mammals to transfer between the forests of the Silent Valley National Park-Mannarkad-Palakkad Forest Divisions and the Nilgiri North Forest Division-Sathyamangalam Tiger Reserve.
“Traffic intensity, over 8,000 vehicles per day, on the NH passing through the elephant corridor is the biggest problem. The changes in the use of private lands in the corridor… such as fallow lands developed into banana plantations and electric fencing for them, have further narrowed the elephant passage. The green tax toll booth set up on the corridor needs to be relocated to help in the smooth movement of elephants,” stated D. Boominathan, panorama coordinator of WWF-India, Coimbatore.
Various Departments and stakeholders put ahead a proposal for a 1.6-km flyover from the Kallar bridge to the second hairpin bend of the ghat part at a price of ₹160 crore a couple of years in the past. But it didn’t get budgetary sanction from the State authorities, stated officers.
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