Manjolai estate part of critical tiger habitat, says Madras HC, refuses to stop workers' eviction

CHENNAI:Though we empathise with the workers, an ecocentric approach is essential, the Madras High Court observed while refusing Manjolai estate workers’ plea seeking the takeover of the estate by the State and withdrawing the move to evict families residing there for more than three generations.

Dislocation is harsh especially when they have been residing in the quarters for two or three generations; it would be extremely hard but without fauna and flora human beings cannot exist on the Earth, held a division bench of Justices N Sathish Kumar and D Bharatha Chakravarthy while disposing of all the petitions.

The workers of Manjolai tea estate at Tirunelveli filed the petitions, challenging the process of evicting them from the estate, after the place was declared a reserve forest in 2018.

The workers also sought the State to take over the estate from the Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation (BBTC) and continue the plantation through Tamil Nadu Tea Plantation Corporation Limited (Tantea). However, it was closed down by the State as the entire area has been marked as reserve forest.

Citing the entire area covering Kalakkad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, including the estate lands, were declared a Core or Critical Tiger Habitat in 2012, and it is home to the flora and fauna endemic to the area, the bench refused to stop the relocation of the workers and their families.

The contention of the worker community to allot land for their own cultivation at the estate cannot be countenanced, wrote the bench.

The bench directed the State to implement all the rehabilitation and resettlement schemes expeditiously. The State submitted a status report with the list of rehabilitation and resettlement schemes to the workers, including allotment of 240 houses in Ambasamutram Taluk and 150 apartment houses at Reddiarpatti in Tirunelveli, at no cost.