Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday informed the Madras High Court that as many as 186 illegal brick kilns situated close to elephant corridors in the Western Ghats have been closed down. The Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, from the First Bench, were hearing a PIL petition from animal activist Muralidharan when the government counsel informed thus.

 As per the petitioner, the illegal mining operation in the Thadagam region in Coimbatore was the only reason behind the rising number of man-animal conflicts. "The brick kilns and the mining of the red sand for bricks have destroyed important corridors used by the elephants to migrate to contiguous forest areas. This is resulting in elephants moving into human settlements and damaging crops and lives," he said.

Prior, the Bench had directed the State to take instant measures to ensure that the brick kilns functioned within the prearranged parameters after obtaining licence from the appropriate authority.

When the matter came up again on March 31, Wednesday, the counsel representing the Chief Secretary, submitted that a detailed audit was conducted across Somayampalayam, Nanjundapuram and Pannimadai villages in Coimbatore north taluk where it was found that various erring units were in operation. Keeping the submission in record, the Bench directed the State to file a detailed report and adjourned the matter till April 6.

 According to a report, from an RTI query, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests, Tamil Nadu Forest Department had informed that between 2015 and 2019, 476 elephants have died in the state this includes 85 tuskers that died between January 1, 2020 and September 2, 2020. Notably, in 2020, the Supreme Court had upheld a Madras High Court order against infringements in the elephant corridor in the Nilgiris.