Sun Jul 06 05:46:24 UTC 2025: **Headline: Madras High Court Demands Timeline for Elephant Corridor Protection in Tamil Nadu**
**CHENNAI, July 6, 2025** – The Madras High Court has pressed the Tamil Nadu government to establish a concrete timeline for officially designating a new list of elephant corridors within the state. The court, concerned about the delay since a 2023 field study identified 36 potential corridors, has requested a status report by July 25, 2025, outlining the progress in this critical conservation effort.
A special Division Bench, hearing a series of forest-related cases, emphasized the urgency of consolidating these corridors, securing necessary funding for their restoration, and developing guidelines to foster public cooperation and minimize human-elephant conflict.
The court’s directive came as Coimbatore Collector G. Pavankumar presented a compliance report regarding previous orders related to illegal mining. The report detailed steps taken to install AI-enabled surveillance cameras around forest areas, a project costing ₹1.83 crore, with the funding proposal currently under review. The Collector also reported that 270 cases of illegal mining had been identified, resulting in penalties of ₹26.76 crore in 100 cases, with the remaining cases under investigation.
The court was also informed of actions taken against officials for dereliction of duty and the development of mobile applications and an online portal for reporting illegal mining activities. The judges decided to pass further orders on the issue on July 25, after reviewing the Collector’s report.
First Piper 